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SUPPRESSED   BOOK 


ASANT    BONDAREFF. 


LABOR. 


frERt)ICTED    BY    THE    CZAR    OF    RUSSIA. 


Made  known,  Augmented,  and  Edited 
BY 

NT  LYOF  TOLSTOI, 

Aui'wr  of  "  The  Kreutzer  Sonata"   "■Anna  Karenina," 
t  "War  and  Peac"   '  My  Religion,"  etc. 

TRANSLATED    l,Y 

MISS  MARY  CRUGER. 


X 


NEW    YORK. 


'LLARD  PUBLISHING*  COMPANY, 


No.     18     BARCLAY     STREET. 


the  Post  Office  in  New  York  as  second-class  matter. 

August  I,   rSgo. 


■I 


__     LABOR!   ^_  „■ 

THEDfflNE   COM^MAND. 

/•      ■ 

MADE  KNOWN,  AUGMENTED  AND  EDITED 

COUNT     LYOF    TOLSTOI. 

AVTHOR  OF  "  THE   KRRUTZKR  SONATA," 


TRANSLATED   BY 

MARY  CRUGER, 


INTERDICTED  BY  THE.  CZAR  OF  RUSSIA. 


NEW  YORK: 
THE   POLLARD   PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

13  BARCLAY  STREET. 
1890. 


Copyright,  1890, 

BT 

THE  POLLARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


Labor  :  The  Divine  Command. 


ri- 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Introduction,  by  the  French  translator, 5 

Of  What  Labor  Consists,       5 

The  peasant  Bondareff  Inspired  the  Social  Theories  of  Tol- 
stoi.-=^The  Two  Laws  of  Humanity:  that  of  Manual 
Labor  for  Men,  that  of  Motherhood  for  Women. — 
Tolstoi's  Review  of  Bondareff. — The   Bible  and  the 

Gospel 13 

How  the  Theory  of  Manual  Labor  should  be  Interpreted. — 
The  Working  of  the  Land,  a  Remedy  for  Social  Evils. 
— Extent  and  Consequences  of  this  Theory,      .     .         .17 
The  Book  of  Bondareff. —Remarks  on  its  Translation,    .     .     18 

LABOR,     BY    LYOF     TOLSTOI    AND    TIMOTHY 
BONDAREFF. 

First  Part. 
Labor  and  Bondareflf's  Theory,  by  Count  Lyof  Tolstoi,       .     19 

Sfxond  Part. 

Labor,  According  to  the  Bible,  by  the  peasant  Bondareff.  42 
I.   Introduction. — Life    of    Bondareff. — Object    of    His 

Work 42 

II.  Labor  According  to  the  Bible, 46 

Appendices. 

Love  and  Labor,       .     , 134 

Bondareff's  Will 157 


387836 


INTRODUCTION. 


Of  what  Labor  consists : 

The  peasant  Bondareff  inspired  the  social 
theories  of  Tolstoi', — the  two  laws  of  humanity, 
that  of  manual  labor  for  men,  that  of  mother- 
hood for  women. 

Tolstoi's  review  of  Bondareff. 

The  Bible  and  the  Gospel. 

How  the  theory  of  manual  labor  should  be  in- 
terpreted. The  working  of  the  land  :  a  remedy 
for  social  evils.  Extent  and  consequences  of 
this  theory. 

The  book  of  Bondareff.  Remarks  on  its 
translation. 

Labor  is  the  work  of  Count  Lyof  Tolstoi'  and 
of  the  peasant  Timothy  Bondareff.  But  it  is 
not,  properly  speaking,  a  collaboration.  The 
book  is  in  fact  composed  of  two  different 
studies,  which  are  as  two  parts  of  one  book : 
one  by  Lyof  Tolstoi,  entitled  The  Work  and  Theory 
of  Bondareff,  which  serves  as  introduction  tc  ^h" 

5 


6  Labor. 

other,  which   is  by  Bondareff,  and    is   entitled 
Labor,  by  the  peasant  Bondareff. 

Labor  is  composed  of  three  principal  chapters, 
which  we  have  entitled  : 

I.  Introduction.  Life  of  Bondareff.  Object 
of  his  work. 

II.  Labor  according  to  the  Bible. 

III.  Appendices.  Love  and  Labor.  Bonda- 
reff's  Will. 

Bondareff  is  a  peasant  of  the  district  of 
Manoussinsk.  He  belongs  to  that  class,  so 
numerous  in  Russia,  which  seeks  for  truth  in 
holy  books.  But  while  many  know  only  the 
Gospels,  Bondareff,  who  belongs  to  the  sect  of 
Sabbatists,  read  the  whole  Bible.  Scarcely  able 
to  spell,  he  puzzled  out  each  verse,  believing 
from  the  outset  to  have  discovered  here  the 
solution  of  all  social  questions.  He  found  for- 
mulated in  Genesis  the  essential  law  for  man 
in  the  obligation  of  manual  labor.  Persuaded 
that  salvation  depends  on  labor,  he  learned  to 
write  that  he  might  make  known  what  he  con- 
sidered to  be  the  truth  of  truths.  At  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years  he  composed  an  essay  in 
which,  under  the  form  of  biblical  verses,  he  un- 
dertook to  show  that  tilling  the  earth  is  the 
highest  of  all  labors.  He  overcame  all  the  dif- 
ficulties arising  from  his  ignorance  and  his  ad- 
vanced age.  Working  all  day  in  the  fields,  and 
devoting  the  hours  of  night  to  his  writing,  he 
accomplished  after  several  jears  the  project  he 
had  conceived.    But  the  manuscript  sent  to  the 


Labor.  7 

Czar,  in  the  form  of  a  request,  was  rejected,  and 
its  printing  was  forbidden  by  the  authorities. 

In  the  meantime,  in  1885,  Bondareff  became 
known  to  Tolstoi,  whose  renown  was  already 
great  among  the  people.  Struck  by  the  pro- 
found truth  of  the  peasant's  theories,  the  author 
of  My  Religion  introduced  into  his  own  life  the 
reform  that  Bondareff  had  preached ;  he  set 
himself  to  follow  the  plough,  to  use  the  awl, 
and.  in  a  word,  to  work  with  his  hands.  Till 
then  he  had  had  but  glimpses  of  these  reforms, 
without  professing  them  openly.*  The  truth 
only  appeared  to  him  in  all  its  brightness,  when 
Bondareff  placed  before  him  his  manuscript. 
He  then  developed  BondarefT's  views,  while 
modifying  them  and  giving  them  a  wider  and 
more  profound  meaning,  in  his  great  works. 
What  is  my  Life  ?  (of  which  the  true  title  is, 
What  then  must  be  done  ?)-\  and  What  should  be 
done,  which  is  the  answer  to  the  first,  and  forms 
with  it  one  complete  work.;}: 

*  See,  in  War  and  Peace,  the  reflections  of  Pierre  Bezon- 
chof  and  of  Leonie.  Consult  also,  Anna  KarMine  and  Aly 
Confession. 

f  What  is  my  Life?  translated  by  Gatzouk  and  Em.  Pages. 
One  volume.    Illustrated  Library,  1888. 

X  Tolstoi  was  familiar  with  the  work  of  Bondareff,  before 
writing  W hat  is  my  Life  ?  and  What  should  be  done.  Besides 
the  many  other  points  of  resemblance  that  they  display,  we 
give  here  a  passage  from  What  is  tny  Life?  (page  164,)  where 
Tolstoi  makes  evident  allusion  to  Bondareff.  "Wealth,"  says 
Tolstoi,  "  is  but  slavery;  it  has  the  same  object  and  like  results. 
Its  object  is  to  free  man  from  the  primordial  law,  according  to  the 


8  Labor. 

In  1888,  to  show  that  the  ideas  of  which  he 
made  himself  the  apostle  were  not  illusive 
dreams,  or  the  conceptions  of  a  paradoxical 
mind,  Tolstoi  himself  edited  in  Russian  Wealth  * 
Bondareff's  book,  whose  publication  had  been 
forbidden.  On  this  occasion  he  wrote  a  pro- 
found essay  on  the  work  and  theory  of  Bonda- 
reff,  which  we  publish  herewith  together  with 
Bondareff's  own  production. 

The  principal  reason  for  presenting  to  the 
world  a  translation  of  Labor  is  that  it  possesses 
great  value,  not  only  as  showing  Tolstoi's  own 
views,  but  as  displaying  the  great  intelligence 
belonging  to  the  reform  that  he  advocated. 
Bondareff's  work  is  the  simple  but  profound 
effort  of  an  uneducated  peasant,  who  stammer- 
ingly  proclaimed  in  188 1  the  great  reform  of 
which  Tolstoi"  subsequently  became  the  cham- 
pion and  herald. 

I. 

Between  the  doctrine  of  the  peasant  Bon- 
dareff  and  that  of  the  noble  Lyof  Tolstoi 
exists  a  strong  and  remarkable  resemblance. 
Tolstoi,  as  we  have  said,  knew  Bondareff ;  he 

expression  of  a  popular  writer,  or  the  natural  law  of  life  as  we 
call  it.  This  law  prescribes  to  each  of  us  personal  labor  as  the 
means  of  existence." — "  The  popular  writer  "  of  whom  Tolstoi 
speaks  is  no  other  than  Bondareff,  who,  as  we  shall  see,  bases 
manual  labor  on  the  primitive  or  primordial  law  :  "  In  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shall  thou  eat  bread." 

*A  journal  published  under  the  direction  of  M.  Obolonski. 


Labor.  9 

had  questioned  him  on  the  idea  he  had  con- 
ceived that  labor  was  a  social  remedy  ;  he  had 
read  his  work,  and  had  also  edited  it.  Bonda- 
reif  had  thus  been  theinspirer  of  Tolstoi's  social 
theories,  as  the  sectary  Soutaief  inspired  his  re- 
ligious beliefs.* 

We  shall  find  in  Tolstoi's  last  philosophic  work, 
What  should  be  done,  his  ideas  on  social  reform. 

Every  man  should  by  the  work  of  his  hands 
support  himself  and  his  family.  Every  woman 
should  nourish  and  educate  her  own  children. 
To  man,  according  to  the  Bible,  God  gave  the 
law  of  manual  labor,  to  woman  that  of  mother- 
hood. To  violate  these  laws  is  death.  But 
while  to  man  disobedience  to  his  own  duty 
would  be  followed  by  speedy  death,  for  woman 
the  punishment  comes  more  slowly.  But  the 
violation  of  both  laws  would  lead  ultimately  to 
the  annihilation  of  humanity. 

But  for  a  long  time  men  have  disregarded  the 
law  of  labor.  For  a  long  time  certain  classes 
have  oppressed  others,  and  at  this  day  the 
breaking  of  the  law  is  pushed  to  the  verge  of 
folly.  Do  we  not  see  Renan  and  others  filled 
with  the  vain  dream  that  one  day  machinery 
will  accomplish  all  sorts  of  labor,  while  men 
will  become  but  "  bundles  of  enjoying  nerves"  ? 

While  men  so  transgress  their  law,  women 
usually   obey  theirs.     Thus,  according  to   Tol- 

*  Under  the  heads  of  tolstoism  and  soutaievism ,  see  in  the 
Revue  des  Deux-Mondes  of  September  15,  1888,  a  masterly  es- 
say by  M.  Anatole  Leroy-Beaulieu. 


lo  Labor. 

stoi,  women  are  stronger  than  men,  arid  to  them 
men  owe  the  hope  of  becoming-  in  the  future 
more  faithful  to  primitive  law.  Still  a  mother 
who  disregards  her  maternal  duties,  and  finds 
all  her  pleasure  in  luxury  and  worldly  enjoy- 
ments, will  bring  up  her  children  to  false  ideas, 
and  will  teach  them  to  neglect,  the  duty  of  la- 
bor, by  usurping  the  fruits  of  others'  exertions. 
On  the  contrary,  the  faithful  parent  would  in- 
struct her  children  that  labor  is  necessary  to 
life. 

We  can  compare  these  ideas  with  those  ex- 
pressed by  Bondareff  in  the  first  paragraphs  of 
Labor  according  to  the  Bible.  Bondareff  inter- 
prets the  account  given  in  Genesis  as  meaning 
that  Adam  was  punished  for  eating  the  for- 
bidden fruit,  that  is,  for  taking  the  fruits  of  oth- 
ers' labor.  He  was  condemned  to  seek  his 
own  food,  "to  knead  his  bread,"  to  use  Bonda- 
reff's  expression,  by  the  sweat  of  his  face.* 

It  is  by  manual  labor  and  above  all  by  till- 
ing the  ground,  and  not  by  the  merits  of  Christ, 
not  by  sacraments  or  other  virtues,  that  Adam 
was  to  save  his  soul  from  hell.  His  descend- 
ants have  inherited  with  original  sin  the  obli- 
gation to  labor  for  their  redemption.  The 
penance  inflicted  on  Adam  by  Jehovah  is  not 
allegorical.  That  of  Eve, "  In  sorrow  shalt  thou 
bring  forth  children,"  must  be  taken  literally. 
Thus,  on  one    side,  man  must  procure  by  the 

*  It  is  shown  by  note  on  page  21  how  this  mode  of  inter- 
preting the  Bible  can  be  justified. 


Labor.  1 1 

labor  of  his  hands  the  bread  necessary  for  his 
own  subsistence  and  for  that  of  his  wife  and 
children  ;  on  the  other,  woman  must  acquit  her- 
self of  all  the  duties  of  motherhood.  Neither 
one  nor  the  other  can  evade  their  respective 
obligations. 

It  is  from  Labor  according  to  the  Bible  that 
Tolstoi  has  taken  the  leading  idea  which  he  has 
given  in  What  is  tny  Life  ?  and  What  should  be 
done.  But  while  Bondareff  claims  that  the 
law  of  labor  and  that  of  motherhood  are  the 
effects  of  a  divine  malediction,  Tolstoi  protests 
energetically  against  that  notion.  What  we 
find  in  the  verses  of  Genesis  cited  by  Bondareff, 
and  on  which  he  rests  his  theory,  is  this :  God 
said  to  Adam,  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shaft 
thou  eat  bread  ;"  and  to  Eve,  "  In  sorrow  shalt 
thou  bring  forth  children."  *  But  according  to 
Tolstoi  it  is  an  error  to  believe  labor  is  a  curse  ; 
and  to  this  error  he  attributes  man's  efforts  to 
evade  the  law  and  to  usurp  the  fruits  of  others' 
work.  He  ceases  not  to  proclaim  that  labor  is 
not  a  sorrow  but  a  joy.  Neither  is  motherhood 
a  curse.  It  is  a  sacred  and  imperative  dutv  ; 
but  it  is  also  a  joy,  and  an  utter  satisfaction. 

Tolstoi  thus  arrives  at  the  same  conclusions 
with  Bondareff,  but  from  a  different  standpoint. 
That  is,  he  opposes  the  Gospel  to  the  Bible. 
He  even  claims  to  find  in  the  Christian  precept 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Talmud  also  teaches  that  every 
man  should  have  a  manual  profession,  and  the  Sanhedrim  de 
clares  that  labor  is  ordained  by  the  law  of  Moses. 


tj  Labor. 

of  l<>vc  and  charity  the  law  of  manual  labor. 
As  he  says  so  eloquently  on  page  36 :  "  The 
man  who  professes,  not  only  by  words  but  by 
actions,  the  doctrines  of  truth  and  love,  will 
not  deceive  himself  as  to  the  object  of  his  life. 
Never  would  the  man  whose  idea  of  existence 
is  to  serve  others  imagine  that  he  can  help 
those  who  are  dying  of  jcold  and  hunger  by 
making  new  laws,  by  casting  cannon,  working 
on  objects  of  luxury,  or  by  playing  on  the  piano 
or  violin.     Love  cannot  be  so  foolish." 

Though  disagreeing  on  this  point,  BondarefT 
and  Tolstoi  unite  in  proclaiming  that  manual 
labor  is  not  only  man's  duty,  but  that  it  is  also 
the  most  excellent  moral  remedy,  and  an  effica- 
cious agent  for  salvation.  Bondareff  has  show  n 
Tolstoi  how  tilling  the  ground  (which  he  so  ex- 
pressively calls  "  labor  for  bread  ")  is  the  primi- 
tive occupation  to  which  all  men  should  apply 
themselves,  and  by  which  they  should  live.  A 
man  should  not  attempt  secondary  tasks  till  he 
has  worked  in  the  ground  for  forty  days.  In 
this  way  a  man  can  nourish,  clothe,  lodge,  and 
shelter  himself  without  needing  aid  from  others. 

Both  BondarefT  and  Tolstoi  arrive  at  the  con- 
clusion that  physical  labor  does  not  exclude  in- 
tellectual activity,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
hold  that  it  augments  the  mind's  dignity  and 
power. 

Thus  Labor  shows  us  that  what  Tolstoi  has 
taught,  Bondareff  had  previously  put  in  prac- 
tice.    If  we  compare  What  should  be  done,  with 


Labor.  1 3 

jMbor,  we  shall  see  that  Tolstoi's  theories  are  the 
same  as  Bondareff's.  Without  doubt  the  philo- 
sophic novelist  has  his  own  originality  of  ideas; 
but  it  is  not  the  less  true  that  he  found  the  first 
outlines  of  his  doctrine  in  Bondareff's  book. 
And  is  it  not  an  admirable  spectacle  to  behold 
this  great  genius,  the  celebrated  author  of  War 
and  Peace ^  seeking  in  the  home  of  the  humble 
peasant  the  word  of  life,  the  magic  formula 
which  permits  us  to  construct  here  below  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem  of  which  we  all  dream? 


II. 

Labor  does  not  only  show  us  how,  under  Bon- 
dareff's influence,  Tolstoi's  ideas  on  the  social 
reform  to  be  produced  by  physical  labor  are 
developed,  but  it  enables  us  to  comprehend 
more  clearly  how  this  theory  and  its  conse- 
quences are  only  now  arrived  at. 

What  have  they  not  said  of  Tolstoi,  as  laborer 
and  shoemaker  ?  A  recent  letter  says :  "  Tol- 
stoi's compatriots  fail  somewhat  in  respect  to- 
wards this  grand  old  man.  From  them  comes 
the  £tory  of  his  learning  the  trade  of  shoemak- 
ing.  We  see  this  nobleman  established  in  a 
shop,  and  we  hesitate  whether  to  admire  or  pity 
him.  We  should  do  neither.  He  does  not 
make  the  trade  his  condition  of  life,  but  only  a 
distraction,  seeking  a  mental  repose  in  manual 
exercise.     Others   make   arms  or  weights  ;  he 


14  Labor. 

has  a  horror  of  useless  efforts,  and   prefers  to 
make  shoes." 

But  this  is  far  from  being-  the  spirit  of 
the  doctrine  of  Tolstoi  and  Bondareff.  Physi- 
cal labor  is  with  them  the  highest  duty,  the 
essential  character  of  man,  and  the  true,  the 
only  mode  of  life.  Without  doubt,  one  must 
work  to  maintain  the  equilibrium  between  mind 
and  body,  but  that  is  not  the  motive  which  led 
Tolstoi  to  the  plough  and  the  shoemaker's 
bench.  He  does  not  hold  strongly  the  argu- 
ments of  Jean-Jacques  in  favor  of  bodily  labor. 
We  must  work  with  our  hands  because  life  con- 
sists in  a  battle  with  nature  for  the  means  of. 
existence,  and  physical  labor  is  the  law  of  life. 
Man  finds  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  duty  a 
complete  satisfaction  for  his  bodil)'^  as  well  as 
his  spiritual  needs.  To  nourish,  clothe,  and 
care  for  himself  and  his  family  satisfies  his 
bodily  wants.  To  nourish,  clothe,  and  care  for 
others  becomes  a  spiritual  duty.  No  form  of 
activity  is  legitimate  that  does  not  seek  to 
gratify  the  primitive  wants  of  man,  for  in  these 
rests  his  very  life. 

Let  us  go  further.  Tolstoi  is  an  idealist.  Na- 
ture is  what  we  ourselves  make  it.  Nature  in 
its  true  form  is  Mind,  and  the  universal  Mind  is 
far  above  the  individual  personaility.  Let  us  rec- 
ognize individuality  as  an  illusion,  and  that  we 
are  working  at  an  infinite  task,  which  is  infinitely 
beyond  us.  To  put  aside  our  personality  and 
follow  the  path  of  renunciation  and  self-abnega- 


•    Labor.  15 

tion  should  be  our  rule  of  life.  Now,  the  ac- 
tion in  which  this  idea  clothes  itself,  that  in 
which  it  takes  form,  is  labor,  the  secular  task 
that  unites  all  generations  of  men  and  makes 
of  the  universe  a  completed  harmony,  a  single 
being  accomplishing  a  single  work.* 

Conse.iuent  upon  this  theory  of  labor  is  the 
belief  in  the  possibility  of  a  paradise  in  this 
world,  and  also  a  contempt  for  mere  industrial 
work,  the  condemnation  of  commerce,  and  a 
hatred  of  cities,  which  he  calls  "  truly  impure 
Babylons."  We  must,  says  Tolstoi,  abandon  the 
cities  where  there  are  but  consumers  and  not 
producers,  and  renounce  those  habits  of  city  life 
which,  far  from  constituting  progress,  are  but 
the  worst  forms  of  corruption. 

Again,  in  adopting  this  theory  of  manual 
labor,  the  problem  of  pauperism  will  be  readily 
solved  ;  we  need  but  to  scatter  the  poor  of  the 
cities  among  the  peasants  of  the  country.  How, 
asks  TolstoT,  can  we  leave  the  village,  where 
we  are  surrounded  by  fields,  by  forests,  by 
grain  and  herds  of  cattle,  in  a  word  by  all  the 
riches  of  the  earth,  to  seek  nourishment  where 
only  dust  and  stones  are  to  be  found  ?  f 

Live  by  the  work  of  your  hands,  "  labor  for 
bread,"  thus  Tolstoi  and  Bondareff  advise  those 
who  seek  a  remedy  for  social  evils,  and  whose 


*  See    Leon   Tolstoi's  book  entitled   Of  Life,  one  volume, 
published  by  C.  Marpon  and  E.  Flammarion, 
f  What  is  my  Life ?  p.  III. 


1 6  Labor. 

hearts  are  full  of  love  for  humanity  and  the 
sentiment  of  justice. 

TolstoY  adds  that  if  there  were  one,  two,  three, 
or  ten  men,  who,  without  entering  upon  any 
personal  conflict,  without  troubling  the  govern- 
ment, or  resorting  to  revolutionary  violence, 
should  solve  for  themselves  this  great  ques- 
tion which  divides  the  world,  it  would  result  in 
other  men's  seeing  true  happiness  within  their 
reach ;  and  the  hitherto  irreconcilable  antipa- 
thies between  conscience  and  the  organization  of 
society  would  be  settled  by  phj^sical  labor.  Cruel 
inequalities  would  disappear,  and  it  would  be  as 
though  heaven  had  descended  upon  earth. 

Science,  Political  Economy,  and  all  exterior 
means  are  powerless  to  dispel  this  evil.  The 
only  remedy  is  in  an  individual  moral  reform, 
based  upon  charity  and  manual  labor.  Human- 
ity can  change  only  with  the  individual's  re- 
form. The  whole  social  question  is  one  of 
morality.  To  an  honest  man  social  reform  must 
come  from  within.  If  each  of  us  should  avoid 
sin  and  cultivate  fraternity  and  Christian  charity, 
there  would  soon  be  no  need  of  soldiers,  con- 
stables,  or  judges. 

Does  not  this  offer  an  original  and  powerful 
incentive  to  reform  society  and  to  save  the 
human  race  ?  Is  not  the  reform  that  Tolstoi' 
advocates  possible  ?  He  only  can  doubt  it  who 
has  not  comprehended  the  true  doctrine  of 
Christ,  which  teaches  the  renunciation  of  indi- 


Labor.  i  J 

vidual  life  and  admits  no  immortality  except 
that  of  humanity. 


III. 

We  have  endeavored  in  few  words  to  por- 
tray and  to  compare  the  doctrines  of  Tolstoi 
and  Bondareff.  We  have  shown  their  tendency 
and  their  social  results.  We  have  but  to  add  a 
comment  on  Bondarefi's  own  book. 

Its  perusal  is  highly  interesting  and  sugges- 
tive. We  find  in  this  peasant  a  profoundness  of 
thought  united  with  great  simplicity  of  charac- 
ter. Doubtless  his  ideas  are  not  always  ex- 
pressed with  sufficient  clearness,  which  is  due 
to  the  biblical  style  he  has  adopted.  But  this 
difficulty  is  easily  surmounted,  if  we  read  with 
due  attention. 

We  have  endeavored  to  give  his  language  as 
precisely  and  exactly  as  possible,  leaving  un- 
touched the  style  of  speech  familiar  to  the  Rus- 
sian peasants,  who  are  indefatigable  readers  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures. 

We  have  sought  to  explain  by  notes  every 
serious  difficulty  that  occurred,  and  to  illustrate 
the  texts  of  Tolstoi  and  of  Bondareff  by  com- 
paring them  with  each  other. 

* 

I  owe  thanks  to  my  brother,  M.  Emile  Pag^s, 
who  has  already  translated  a  work  of  TolstoiN 
( What  is  my  Life  ?    one  volume,  Illustrated  L 


1 8  Labor. 

brary),  and  who  will  soon  publish  Wealth  and 
Literature  by  the  author  of  My  Religion,  as  well 
as  an  essay  on  his  life  and  works.  In  1888  he 
visited  the  great  Russian  author  at  Moscow, 
and  received  from  him  the  manuscript  of  Labor, 
whose  translation  he  entrusted  to  me,  being  too 
much  occupied  to  attempt  it  himself.  That 
Lyof  Tolstoi  and  the  peasant  Bondareff  may 
recognize  their  work  as  we  have  translated  it 
will  be  the  best  reward  of  our  efforts. 

Amedee  Pages. 


LABOR. 


LABOR,  AND  BONDAREFF'S  THEORY. 

BY   COUNT   LYOF   TOLSTOI. 

The  work  which  I  now  offer  to  the  public  is 
by  Timothy  Michailovitch  Bondareff.  I  have 
made  no  change  in  it,  except  to  substitute  for 
Bondareff's  peculiar  orthography  one  more 
generally  used  in  books. 

One  other  difference  consists  in  m)''  division 
of  the  work  in  two  parts;  reserving  under  the 
title  of  Appendices  all  that  seemed  to  be  a 
repetition  of  or  digression  from  the  principal 
subject. 

This  work  is,  in  my  opinion,  remarkable  for 
its  force  and  clearness,  the  beauty  of  its  lan- 
guage, the  sincerity  of  conviction  which  each 
line  betrays,  and,  above  all,  the  importance,  the 
truth,  and  the  profundity  of  its  fundamental 
idea. 

The  master-thought  of  the  book  is  this:  Un- 

19 


20  Labor. 

der  all  circumstances  of  life,  it  is  essential  not 
only  to  know  what  is  good  and  necessary,  but 
to  know  which,  among  these  good  and  neces- 
sar}^  things,  is  of  the  first  or  second  impor- 
tance. This,  which  is  of  supreme  need  in  the 
affairs  of  life,  is  still  more  so  in  those  of  religion, 
for  which  faith  fixes  duties  of  such  great  import 
to  humanity. 

Tatian,*   one    of    the    Fathers   of   the  early 

*  Tatian,  an  apologist  of  the  second  century,  attracts  the 
historian  by  the  originality  with  which  he  assimilates  revealed 
truths,  and  the  somewhat  rude  eloquence  with  which  he  brands 
pagan  corruption  for  its  lapse  from  orthodoxy  to  the  Gnostic 
heresy.  He  was  born  in  Assyria,  as  he  himself  states  in  his 
Discourse  to  the  Greeks. 

Having  vainly  sought,  as  well  in  the  popular  faith,  in  the  Ori- 
ental mysteries,  and  in  the  schools  of  philosophy,  for  a  doctrine 
that  would  appease  his  intellectual  doubts  and  satisfy  the  more 
elevated  demands  of  his  conscience,  he  found  it  ultimately  in 
the  Gospel,  and  described  it  in  his  first  and  most  celebrated 
work,  the  Discourse  to  the  Greeks,  as  the  motive  of  his  conversion. 
This  apology,  which  would  seem  to  have  been  written  during 
a  sojourn  in  Rome,  is  distinguished  from  all  others  that  were 
written  at  that  period  by  the  irreconcilable  antagonism  it 
portrays  between  the  pretended  wisdom  of  the  pagan  and  the 
Gospel.  On  one  side  all  is  light;  on  the  other,  utter  darkness: 
here  stand  mythology  with  its  absurd  fables  whose  subtle  alle- 
gories scarcely  conceal  their  coarseness,  art  devoted  entirely 
to  sensual  pleasures,  and  philosophy  with  its  contradictions 
and  its  nothingness  ;  there,  Christianity  with  its  simplicity  and 
universality,  its  purity  of  life,  and  the  courage  in  the  presence 
of  death  with  which  its  followers  were  inspired. 

After  the  death  of  Justin  Martyr,  Tatian  returned  to  Syria, 
and  affiliated  himself  with  one  of  the  numerous  sects  to  which 
Oriental  fervor  of  imagination  gave  rise. 

As  far  as  can  be  ascertained  where  so  much  controversy 
existed,  Tatian  joined  the  sect  of  the  Encratites,  although  he 


Labor.  2 1 

Church,  says  that  the  misfortunes  of  men  come 
less  from  their  ignorance  of  the  true  God  than 
from  their  faith  in  false  gods.  This  is  equally 
true  in  resrard  to  men's  individual  duties.  Their 
misfortunes  and  crimes  result  not  so  much  from 
igorance  of  real  duty  as  from  admitting  false 
ideas  of  duty,  and  from  not  regarding  as  their 
sole  duty  that  which  is  highest  and  most  clearly 
established. 

Bondareff  affirms  that  the  crimes  and  mis- 
fortunes of  men  result  from  their  accepting  as 
sacred  duties  precepts  that  are  frivolous  and 
hurtful,  while  they  forget  and  conceal  from 
themselves  and  others  that  which  is  incontest- 
ably  the  first  and  most  important  of  duties, 
and  which  is  contained  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Holy  Scripture :  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face 
shalt  thou  knead  bread."* 

was  not  its  founder.  (E.  Strachlin,  Encyclopedia  of  Religious 
Science.) 

The  best  known  of  his  works  of  that  period,  the  Diatessaron, 
must  have  been  a  harmony  of  the  four  Gospels  of  which  Euse- 
bius  speaks  without  having  seen  it.  Tatian  composed  this  to 
expunge  from  the  canonical  text  the  genealogies  and  other 
passages  which  make  the  Saviour  belong  to  the  race  of  David 
in  the  flesh. 

*  Tolstoi  and  Bondareff  thus  render  this  verse  of  Genesis  as 
better  expressing  the  idea  of  manual  labor.  It  is  usually 
translated,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  shou  eat  bread." 
We  gi^  a  passage  translated  by  Reuss  from  the  Hebrew  text: 
"  And  the  Eternal  God  said  :  Because  thou  hast  hearkened  to 
the  voice  of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of  the  tree  of  which  I 
commanded  thee  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it,  cursed  is  the  ground 
for  thy  sake;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy 
hf$.    Thorns  also  and  thistles  shalt  it  bring  forth  to  thee,  and  thou 


22  Labor. 

To  those  who  believe  in  the  sacredness  and 
infallibility  of  the  Divine  Word  as  given  in  the 
Bible,  it  will  be  evident  that  this  command- 
ment strongly  asserts  its  own  truth,  since  it 
was  given  by  God  and  has  never  been  annulled. 

As  for  those  who  do  not  believe  in  Holy 
Scripture,  if  they  will,  without  prejudice,  con- 
sider this  precept  as  a  simple  and  natural  ex- 
pression of  hunian  wisdom,  they  will  see  clearly 
its  sense  and  truth  if  they  also  examine  the  con- 
ditions of  human  life:  and  it  is  precisely  this 
that  Bondareff  has  done  in  his  book. 

They  may  be  prevented  making  successfully 
such  an  examination,  because  so  many  are 
accustomed  to  the  absurd  and  erroneous  expla- 
nations that  theologians  give  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. It  will  need  but  to  recall  to  them  that  a 
doctrine  is  susceptible  of  different  interpreta- 
tions, and  they  will  exclaim  with  disdain : 
"What  do  we  care  for  Holy  Scripture?  We 
know  that  whatever  one  chooses  may  be  based 
upon  it,  and  that  it  is  all  false." 

Nothing  could  be  more  unjust;  for  we  must 
not  take  for  Holy  Scripture  man's  mistaken 
views  of  it,  and  he  who  really  speaks  the  truth 
may  well  do  so  in  the  words  of  the  Scriptures. 

shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field,  in  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou 
eat  bread,  till  ihoii  retu  n  to  the  ground;  for  out  of  it  wast  thou 
taken,  dust  thou  art.  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

We  see  this  interpretation  of  Tolstoi  and  Kondartffis  not  in- 
exact. They  have  reason  to  believe  that  Genesis  teaches  us 
that  the  natural  condition  of  man  is  to  labor  in  liie  ground. 


Labor.  23 

If  we  admit  that  what  we  call  Holy  Scrip- 
tures is  not  the  work  of  God,  but  of  men,  and 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  while  it  is  purely  and 
simply  the  work  of  men,  it  is  regarded  as  com- 
ing from  God,  let  us  not  forget  there  is  a  reason 
for  its  continued  existence. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  this  reason. 

Superstitious  men  call  it  God's  work  because 
it  is  more  profound  than  all  human  science,  and 
because,  notwithstanding  continual  attacks  upon 
its  verity,  it  remains  to  this  day  without  losing 
its  divine  authority.  It  is  called  divine,  and  is 
transmitted  to  us,  because  it  contains  the  great- 
est possible  wisdom.  And  this  is  true  of  the 
greater  part  of  what  we  call  the  Bible. 

This  in  fact,  and  in  a  literal  sense,  is  what 
Bondareff  takes  for  his  text,  in  proclaiming  the 
commandment  that  the  human  race  has  for- 
gotten, or  has  so  interpreted  as  to  destroy  its 
force. 

One  usually  regards  this  sentence  of  God  and 
all  Adam's  life  in  paradise  as  a  real  and  historic 
event,  although  we  should  also  give  it  an  alle- 
gorical aspect,  as  showing  the  contrary  tenden- 
cies that  God  has  placed  in  human  nature. 

Man  fears  death  and  is  subject  to  it.  One 
who  knows  of  neither  good  nor  evil  would  seem 
to  us  most  happy,  and  yet  we  are  eager  to  know 
everything.  Man  loves  the  pleasures  and  the 
gratifying  of  his  wants  which  bring  no  pain  with 
them,  and  yet  it  is  by  pain  and  suffering  that  he 
and  all  his  race  attain  life. 


34  Labor. 

These  words,  "Knead  thy  bread  in  the  sweat 
of  thy  face,"  are  important,  not  only  because  it 
is  claimed  that  God  himself  uttered  them  to  our 
father  Adam,  but  because  \\\ty  are  true,  because 
they  affirm  an  irrevocable  law  of  human  exist- 
ence. 

The  law  of  gravitation  is  not  true  only  be- 
cause Newton  discovered  it;  but,  on  the  con- 
trar}^  we  know  of  Newton  because  he  made  this 
discovery,  and  we  are  grateful  to  him  for  show- 
ing us  an  eternal  law  which  serves  to  explain  a 
whole  class  of  phenomena. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  law,  "  In  the  sweat  of 
thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread."  It  is  also  a 
law  which  explains  a  whole  class  of  phenomena. 
Having  known  it  once,  we  can  never  forget  it, 
and  we  are  full  of  gratitude  to  him  who  discov- 
ered it. 

This  law  would  seem  to  be  simple  and  Avell 
known  ;  but  that  is  but  a  delusion,  as  we  discover 
on  looking  around  us.  Not  only  is  it  not 
recognized,  but  another  that  is  diametrically 
opposed  to  it  prevails.  All  who  believe  in  God, 
from  the  emperor  to  the  beggar,  seek  to  evade 
rather  than  to  obey  it. 

To  show  its  eternity  and  immutability,  and  to 
explain  how  its  infringement  must  necessarily 
result  in  misfortune,  is  what  Bondareff  has  un- 
dertaken in  his  book. 

Bondareff  calls  it  the  primitive  law,  the  first 
commandment,  and  places  it  above  all  others. 
He  shows  that  sin  and  all  faults  and  disloyal 


Labor.  25 

actions  belong  to  those  only  who  break  it.  In 
his  eyes,  the  principal  of  humanity's  positive 
duties,  the  first  and  incontestable  need  of  each 
individual,  is  to  work  with  his  hands  for  bread ;  he 
understands  by  it  that  each  man,  by  long  and 
painful  labor,  should  preserve  himself  from  dy- 
ing of  cold  and  hunger,  and  that  he  should  pro- 
cure by  manual  labor  food,  clothing,  warmth, 
and  shelter. 

Bondareff's  fundamental  idea  is  that  this  law 
(man  must  work  to  live),  now  regarded  as 
merely  necessar}-,  should  be  considered  as  the 
highest  of  all.  It  ought  to  be  held  as  a  relig- 
ious duty,  like  observing  the  Sabbath  and  cir- 
cumcision are  among  the  Israelites,  fasting  and 
the  sacraments  among  Christians,  and  the  pray- 
ing five  times  a  day  and  other  practices  among 
the  Mahometans. 

He  claims  that  if  men  regarded  working  for 
bread  as  a  religious  duty,  no  other  occupation 
would  deter  them  from  fulfilling  it,  even  as 
nothing  can  deter  believers  from  celebrating  the 
feasts  prescribed  by  the^r  religion. 

We  have  more  than  eighty  feast-days  in  the 
year,  while  working  for  bread  only  requires, 
according  to  Bondareff's  calculation,  about  forty 
days. 

How  extraordinary  it  seems,  at  first  glance, 
that  a  means  so  simple,  so  easy  to  be  understood 
by  airthe  world,  and  requiring  neither  skill  nor 
science  to  accomplish  it,  should  be  able  to  save 
humanity  from  all  terrestrial  evils,  no  matter 


26  Labor. 

how  numerous  they  may  be!  But  how  much 
more  surprising-  is  it  that,  having  in  our  hands  a 
means  so  simple,  so  clear,  so  long  known  to  all 
the  world,  we  should  neglect  it,  and  seek  to 
cure  our  woes  by  various  false  and  subtle  theo- 
ries! 

It  is  acting  like  one  who,  instead  of  putting  a 
new  bottom  in  a  broken  cask,  tries  to  invent  all 
sorts  of  artifices  to  make  it  hold  water.  And 
our  efforts  to  cure  our  own  woes  are  like  these 
vain  artifices. 

Whence  come,  then,  all  the  misfortunes  of 
men,  excepting  those  which  result  in  assassina- 
tions, prisons,  combats,  and  all  the  cruelties  of 
which  they  become  guilty  because  they  cannot 
forbear  to  use  violence? 

All  human  misfortunes,  direct  violence  ex, 
cepted,  result  on  the  one  hand  from  hunger  and 
privation  of  all  sorts,  and  from  discouragement 
in  labor,  and  on  the  other  from  riches,  idleness, 
and  the  vices  they  engender.  .Ought  we  not  to 
endeavor  to  destroy  this  inequality  by  which 
some  are  plunged  into  the  evils  of  misery  and 
want,  and  others  into  those  which  belong  to  the 
temptations  of  wealth? ,  How  can  we  do  tliis 
but  by  taking  part  in  the  labor  which  satisfies 
our  wants,  and  in  abandoning  wealth  and  idleness, 
which  are  the  parents  of  vice  and  temptation  ; 
in  other  words,  in  obeying  the  law  which  com- 
mands men  to  labor  each  for  his  own  bread, 
and  to  earn  their  living  with  their  own  hands? 
We  are  so  overwhelmed  with  the  multitude  of 


Labor.  27 

religious,  social,  and  domestic  laws  that  are  im- 
posed upon  us ;  we  have  invented  so  many  com- 
mandments in  announcing,  as  Isaiah  says,  "line 
upon  line,  precept  upon  precept,"  one  rule  for 
this,  another  for  that,  that  we  have  lost  all  clear 
perception  of  good  and  evil.  One  says  mass,  an- 
other recruits  for  the  army,  or  collects  taxes,  a 
third  is  a  judge,  a  fourth  is  a  student,  a  fifth  cures 
disorders,  a  sixth  teaches  ;  all,  in  fine,  by  these  or 
similar  pretexts  evade  the  law  of  labor,  leaving 
it  for  others,  and  forgetting  that  there  are  around 
them  men  who  are  dying  with  hunger  and 
fatigue.  But  before  giving  the  people  priests, 
soldiers,  judges,  doctors,  and  professors,  we 
should  know  that  they  are  not  perishing  with 
hunger.  Not  onl}'  do  we  forget  that  many  duties 
may  present  themselves  for  fulfilment,  but  also 
that  there  is  a  first  and  a  last  duty,  and  that  we 
cannot  undertake  the  last  till  the  first  is  ful- 
filled, any  more  than  we  can  harrow  the 
ground  before  it  has  been  ploughed. 

It  is  to  accomplish  the  duty  which  is  the  first 
in  practical  order  that  Bondareff's  doctrine  is 
given. 

Bondareff  shows  that  the  accomplishment  of 
this  duty  does  not  interfere  with  any  other 
occupation,  presents  no  difficulties,  and  saves 
m^n  from  poverty,  want,  and  temptation. 

It  destro3^s  above  all  the  odious  division  of 
man  into  two  classes  who  hate  each  other  and 
hide  under  a  veil  of  humility  their  mutual  dis- 
likeg 


28  Labor. 

Labor  for  bread,  says  Bondareff,  renders  all 
men  equal,  and  clips  the  wings  of  luxury  and 
covetousness. 

One  cannot  cultivate  the  ground  or  dig  wells 
in  rich  clothing,  with  white  hands,  or  on  delicate 
food. 

By  giving  themselves  up  to  an  occupation 
that  is  good  and  holy  for  ever}^  one,  men  come 
nearer  to  each  other.  Labor  for  bread  restores 
intelligence  to  those  who  have  lost  it  or  have 
led  unworthy  lives  ;  and  it  also  bestows  joy  and 
happiness ;  for  God  and  nature  have  reserved 
this  as  a  glad  and  interesting  work  for  mankind. 

Labor  for  bread  is  a  remedy  that  saves  man- 
kind. If  men  would  recognize  this  primitive 
law  as  divine  and  immutable,  and  regard  labor 
for  bread  as  an  indispensable  duty,  all  would 
then  be  nourished  by  their  own  work,  be 
united  by  the  same  faith  in  God  and  in  love  for 
one  another,  and  thus  destroy  the  poverty  from 
which  so  many  suffer. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  a  contrary  state  of 
affairs,  and  to  regard  wealth,  freedom  from 
the  need  to  labor,  and  high  social  position  as 
gifts  of  Heaven,  that  we  do  not  choose  to  see 
how  unjust  and  incomplete  it  is. 

Let  us  analyze  it  with  care,  and  see  if  it  is  just. 

There  are  on  this  point  religious  and  political 
theories  to  suit  all  tastes.  Let  us  judge  Bon- 
dareff's  theory  as  a  mere  theory.  Let  us  con- 
sider what  would  happen  if,  following  Bon- 
dareff's  wish,  all  the  clergy  should  undertake  in 


Labor.  29 

their  sermons  to  explain  this  first  command- 
ment, and  if  all  men  should  accept  the  holy  law 
of  labor.     What  would  be  the  result? 

All  the  world  would  labor  and  eat  the  fruit 
of  their  labor,  and  bread,  being  an  object  of 
necessity,  would  neither  be  bought  nor  sold. 
What  then  ?  No  one  would  die  of  hunger.  If 
a  man  could  not  earn  enough  for  himself  and 
his  family,  his  neighbor  would  help  him.  He 
would  do  so  because  he  would  have  no  other 
use  for  products  that  he  could  not  sell.  It 
would  follow  that  man  would  have  no  more 
temptations ;  he  would  have  no  occasion  to 
obtain  by  ruse  or  violence  the  bread  he  could 
not  otherwise  procure. 

Violence  and  deceit  would  not  then  be  neces- 
sary as  they  are  now;  and  he  who  resorted  to 
them  would  do  so  from  evil  impulse,  and  not, 
as  now,  from  want  or  privation. 

Those  who  are  weak  and  cannot  earn  their 
bread  would  no  longer  need  to  sell  their  labor, 
and  perhaps  their  souls,  to  obtain  food. 

No  one  would  then,  as  now,  seek  to  escape 
from  the  burden  of  labor  or  to  throw  it  on 
others ;  nor  endeavor  to  crush  the  feeble  with 
it,  while  on  the  strong  they  heap  all  manner 
of  work.  We  would  no  longer  find  men  devot- 
ing all  their  intellectual  forces  to  facilitate,  not 
labor  for  laborers,  but  idleness  for  the  idle. 

In  taking  part  in  the  labor  for  bread,  and  in 
recognizing  it  as  the  principal  human  occupa- 
tion, we  act  as  one  who,  seeing  a  carriage  drawn 


30  Labor. 

by  fools  with  the  wheels  in  the  air,  turned  it 
over  and  replaced  it  on  its  wheels.  It  then 
went  smoothly. 

The  life  we  lead  in  scorning  labor,  and  in  try- 
ing to  reform  it  contrary  to  nature,  is  as  this 
upset  carriage  with  the  wheels  in  the  air. 
And  all  our  efforts  will  be  vain  till  we  place 
the  carriage  in  its  proper  position,  and  our- 
selves in  ours. 

This  is  Bondareff's  doctrine,  in  which  I  entire- 
ly believe. 

Let  me  further  explain  his  notion. 

There  was  once  a  time  when  men  devoured 
each  other.  The  idea  of  equality  gradually 
developed  among  them,  however,  so  that  this 
state  of  affairs  did  not  continue.  Thus  canni- 
balism was  abandoned. 

Then  followed  a  period  in  which  they  made 
slaves  of  their  fellow-beings,  and  possessed 
themselves  of  the  fruits  of  their  labor.  But  in 
time  human  consciences  became  too  enlightened 
for  this,  and  slavery  was  abolished. 

While  these  gross  forms  of  tj^ranny  have  now 
disappeared,  its  spirit  is  still  existing  beneath 
hypocritical  deceptions.  Man  no  longer  openly 
avails  himself  of  the  labor  of  others  without 
form  of  recompense.  To-day  exists  another 
phase  of  violence :  the  rich,  profiting  by  the 
needs  of  the  poor,  still  enslave  them  effectually. 

But,  according  to  Bondareff,  the  time  is  com- 
ing when  all  men  will  be  equal,  and  one  cannot 
profit  by  the  need  of  another,    or   through  his 


Labor.  3 1 

suffering  from  hunger  or  cold  succeed  in  enslav- 
ing him.  Man,  admitting  that  labor  for  bread 
is  a  law  imposed  on  all,  will  consider  it  a  strict 
duty  not  to  permit  the  sale  of  bread  (that  is, 
articles  of  actual  necessity),  but  will  nourish, 
clothe,  and  care  for  each  other. 

I  regard  Bondareff's  work  from  another 
point  of  view,  which  is  this: 

You  will  often  hear  it  said  that  we  must  not  be 
content  with  negative  laws  and  command- 
ments, that  is,  the  rules  which  decide  what  we 
must  not  do;  but  we  should  have  positive  laws, 
which  determine  in  a  precise  manner  what  we 
ought  to  do. 

For  example,  Jesus  Christ  gave  five  negative 
commandments :  * 

I  St.  Never  regard  any  one  as  a  fool  or  idiot; 
and  never  be  angry  with  any  one.f 

2d.  Do  not  look  on  marriage  as  a  mere 
source  of  pleasure.  Let  not  the  husband  leave 
his  wife,  nor  the  wife  her  husband.:}: 

*  Tolstoi's  moral  law  is  all  contained  in  these  Gospel  pre- 
cepts. See,  for  the  development  of  this  doctrine,  and  his  ex- 
planation of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  his  book  entitled  My 
Religion. 

f  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever  is  angry  with  his 
brother  without  a  cause  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment; 
and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca,  shall  be  in  dan- 
ger of  the  council:  but  whosoever  shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be 
in  danger  of  hell  fire."     (St.  Matthew,  chap.  v.  22.) 

^  "  It  hath  been  said.  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  let 
him  give  her  a  writing  of  divorcement; 

But  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife, 
saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication,  causeih  her   to   commit 


32  Labor. 

3d.  Swear  not;  do  not  make  promises  to  any 
one  or  for  any  cause.* 

4th.  Submit  to  offence  and  violence,  and  do 
not  resist  wicked  men.f 

5th.  Do  not  regard  men  as  enemies.  Love 
your  enemies  even  as  you  do  your  neighbors.:}: 

It  is  said  these  commandments  teach  us  only 
what  we  must  not  do. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  there  should  not  be 
in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  a  precise  command- 
ment as  to  what  we  should  do.     But  whoever 

adultery:  and  whosoever  shall  marry  her  that  is  divorced,  com- 
mitteth  adultery."     (Ibid.  v.  31,  32.)' 

*  "  Again,  ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  by  them  of 
old  lime,  Thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but  shalt  perform 
unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths. 

But  I  say  unto  you,  Swear  not  at  all,  neither  by  heaven;  for 
it  is  God's  throne: 

Nor  by  the  earth;  for  it  is  his  footstool:  neither  by  Jerusa- 
lem; for  it  is  the  city  of  the  great  King. 

Neither  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head,  because  thou  canst 
not  make  one  hair  white  or  black."     (Ibid.  v.  33-37) 

f  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  an  eye, 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth. 

But  I  say  unto  you  that  ye  resist  not  evil;  but  whosoever 
shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also." 
(Ibid.  v.  38-39-) 

^  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy: 

But  I  say  unto  you.  Love  you  renemies,  bless  them  that 
curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you.  and  pray  for  them 
which  despitefuUy  use  you  and  persecute  you. 

That  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  father  which  is  in  heav- 
en; for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good, 
and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust."  (Ibid. 
V.  43-45.) 


Labor.  33 

believes  fully  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  will  find 
there  not  only  these  five  negative  command- 
ments, but  also  the  positive  doctrine  of  all  truth. 

Now,  the  doctrine  of  truth,  as  proclaimed  by 
Jesus  Christ,  is  found  not  in  laws,  not  in  com- 
mandments, but  only  in  the  sense  by  which  we 
understand  life. 

It  teaches  that  life  and  its  welfare  consist  not 
in  personal  happiness,  as  many  believe,  but  in 
serving  God  and  our  neighbor.  And  this  is  not 
a  duty  to  be  performed  for  recompense,  it  is 
not  a  mystical  expression  of  hidden  and  incom- 
prehensible meaning,  but  a  revelation  of  the 
law  of  life  hitherto  ignored,  a  demonstration 
that  life  cannot  be  good  if  it  is  not  given  its 
highest  phase. 

So  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  of  truth  is  ex- 
pressed in  these  words :  Love  God,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself. 

Christ's  direct  laws  and  commandments,  and 
the  Judaic  and  Buddhist  precepts,  indicate  the 
ways  in  which  the  world's  temptations  turn  men 
from  the  right  way. 

Thus,  there  may  be  many  such  laws  and  pre- 
cepts, while  it  needs  but  one  positive  rule  of 
life  to  teach  us  what  to  do. 

The  life  of  every  man  consists  in  following 
some  one  aim.  Whatever  it  may  be,  he  tends  to- 
wards it,  as  he  sees  it  more  or  less  clearly. 
Christ  has  shown  us  the  right  way,  and  how 
we  may  be  turned  aside  from  it.  For  this  there 
are   many  diverging  paths,  and   the  five  com- 


34  Labor. 

mandments  are  given  to  guard  us  from  their 
errors.  But  only  one  precept  is  needed  to 
show  us  the  right  way  ;  and  for  those  who  be- 
lieve Christ's  teaching,  and  know  the  true  way 
of  life  that  he  has  pointed  out,  no  positive  laws 
are  needed  to  enforce  his  doctrine. 

The  different  actions  which  result  from  fol- 
lowing the  true  path  of  life  are  clearly  defined 
for  those  who  accept  Christ's  teaching.  They" 
are,  to  use  his  expression,  as  a  well  of  pure  wa- 
ter bursting  from  the  soil  ,  and  their  actions 
flow  naturally  from  the  pure  source,  in  spite  of 
all  obstacles. 

No  man,  believing  in  the  doctrine  of  Jesus 
Christ,  would  ask  what  were  his  positive  duties, 
any  more  than  the  water  springing  from  the 
earth  would  ask  what  it  should  do.  It  flows  in 
its  abundance  to  refresh  the  grass,  the  trees,  and 
the  flowers,  while  birds,  animals,  and  men  par- 
take of  its  bounty. 

Thus  the  man  who  accepts  Christ's  definition 
of  the  path  of  life  goes  unquestioning  on  his 
way  straight  to  the  goal.  He  need  not  ask  what 
he  has  to  do.  Love,  which  will  become  the  prin- 
ciple of  his  being,  will  show  him  clearly  the  right 
path,  and  what  duties  belong  to  the  present  and 
future. 

(The  first  and  most  pressing  claims  of  this 
work  of  love  are  to  feed  the  hungry,  to  clothe 
the  naked,  to  succor  the  sick,  and  to  visit  the 
prisoners.  This  is  the  counsel  of  Christ  as  well 
as  of  our  own  hearts.     And  above  all  are  we 


Labor.  35 

exhorted  by  reason,  by  conscience  and  feeling, 
to  secure  to  our  brother-men  their  lives,  to  pre- 
serve them  from  the  suffering-  and  death  which 
result  from  their  unequal  contest  with  nature,* 
and  to  urge  upon  them  the  labor  for  bread,  the 
most  important  and  most  wearisome  of  all 
work,  and  which  is  distinctly  imposed  on  all 
men./ 

Even  as  the  spring  may  not  ask  where  it 
shall  send  its  waters,  whether  it  shall  sprinkle 
from  above  the  grass  and  the  leaves  of  the  trees, 
or  seek  their  roots  beneath  the  earth,  so  a  man 
who  knows  the  doctrine  of  truth  may  not  ask 
in  advance  what  he  must  do,  whether  he  is  to 
teach  men,  to  defend  them  from  the  enemy,  to 
amuse  them  and  give  them  the  pleasures  of  life, 
or  to  succor  those  who  perish  in  want.  fX 
spring  does  not  flow  upon  the  surface,  quench- 
ing the  thirst  of  animals  and  filling  the  ponds, 

*  This  idea  of  an  incessant  struggle  with  nature  as  being 
man's  principal  duty  and  occupation  occurs  frequently  in 
Tolstoi's  works,  and  notably  In  What  should  be  done.  "  The 
first  and  most  undoubted  duty  of  man,"  he  says,  "  is  to  partake 
in  the  struggle  with  nature  for  his  own  life  and  his  neighbor's." 
And  again:  "  Whether  it  results  for  good  or  for  ill,  this  is  the 
decree  of  God,  or  the  law  of  nature  which  created  man  and  the 
world.  The  situation  of  man  in  the  world,  as  we  know  it,  is  such 
that,  being  naked,  without  shelter,  and  unable  to  find  his  food 
in  the  fields, — like  Robinson  Crusoe  on  his  island, — he  is  under 
the  necessity  of  contending  always  with  nature  for  food,  cloth- 
ing, and  shelter.  Food  must  be  prepared  to  satisfy  his  own 
hunger  several  times  in  the  day,  and  also  that  of  the  children 
who  are  too  young  for  labor,  as  well  as  of  the  feeble  old 
folk." 


36  Labor. 

till  it  has  first  watered  the  earth  ;  thus  a  man, 
knowing  the  doctrine  of  truth,  cannot  seek  to 
satisfy  men's  minor  needs  till  he  has  relieved 
the  greatest  want,  and  has  aided  to  nourish 
them,  and  to  save  them  from  the  death  that 
attends  the  unequal  contest  with  naturer]  The 
man  who  professes,  not  only  by  words"Dut  by 
actions,  the  doctrines  of  truth  and  love,  will  not 
deceive  himself  as  to  the  object  of  his  life. 
Never  would  the  man  whose  idea  of  existence 
is  to  serve  others  imagine  that  he  can  help 
those  who  are  dying  of  cold  and  hunger  by 
making  new  laws,  by  casting  cannon  or  work- 
ing on  objects  of  luxury,  or  by  playing  on  the 
piano  or  violin.     Love  cannot  be  so  foolish. 

Even  as  love  for  a  person  does  not  consist 
in  reading  to  him  a  novel  when  he  is  hungry, 
nor  in  giving  him  jewels  of  great  price  if  he  is 
cold,  neither  can  it  consist  in  amusing  those  who 
are  satiated,  while  those  who  are  cold  and  hungry 
are  left  to  die  in  misery.  True  love,  showing  itself 
by  actions  rather  than  by  words,  is  far  from  being 
wanting  in  intelligence.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
full  of  true  wisdom  and  sagacity.  So  a  man  in- 
spired by  love  will  not  deceive  himself;  he  will 
accomplish  at  once  the  first  duty  that  his  love  for 
mankind  points  out,  in  carrying  succor  to  those 
who  suffer,  or  who  are  cold  or  hungry.  But  to 
aid  the  famished  and  unhappy  is  to  tight  hand 
to  hand  with  nature.  Only  he  who  is  willing  to 
deceive  himself  and  others  in  the  moment  of 
dangerous  contest  with  misery  will  refuse  to  aid 


Labor.  37 

them,  and  will  augment  their  misfortunes,  while 
pretending  to  those  who  are  perishing  before 
him  that  he  has  other  occupations  by  which  he 
will  seek  a  means  to  save  them. 

A  true  man,  one  for  whom  life  consists  in  do- 
ing good,  could  not  use  such  language  ;  and  if  he 
made  such  a  response,  his  conscience  would  ever 
reprove  the  falsehood  ;  he  can  find  no  defence 
ior  it  save  in  the  crafty  and  diabolical  theory  of 
the  Division  of  Labor!*' 

Among  all  the  doctrines  of  human  wisdom, 
from  that  of  Confucius  to  that  of  Mahomet,  we 
find  this  idea  strongly  expressed  only  in  the  Gos- 
pel. We  there  find  ourselves  convinced  of  the 
necessity  to  aid  men,  not  by  a  theory  of  division 
of  labor,  but  by  means  that  are  simple,  natural, 
and  indispensable.  It  is  the  Gospel  which 
teaches  us  to  minister  to  the  sick,  the  prisoners, 
and  those  who  perish  with  cold  and  hunger. 

But  we  can  only  do  this  directly  by  at  once 
laboring  ourselves,  for  the  sick  and  the  famished 

*  Tolstoi'  has  discussed  the  theory  of  the  division  of  la- 
bor, showing  its  disastrous  effects,  in  What  should  be  done,  at 
page  104  of  the  French  translation,  and  those  following  it. 

Without  doubt,  according  to  Tolstoi,  the  division  of  labor 
exists  in  human  society,  but  the  question  is  how  to  render  it 
just.  It  has  made  in  our  day  an  admirable  progress,  but,  by 
some  unhappy  chance,  it  has  aggravated  instead  of  ame- 
liorating the  condition  of  the  greatest  number,  who  are  the  la- 
borers. 

How  then  shall  we  make  a  just  distribution  of  labor?  To 
preserve  life  by  a  manual  labor,  common  to  all,  is  the  first 
duty  ;  which  is  to  be  personally  fulfilled,  yet  in  a  manner  that 
aids  our  neighbor  also. 


3S  Labor. 

are  still  dying  for  want  of  aid.  The  man  who 
practises  the  doctrine  of  truth  will  demonstrate 
in  his  life,  that  is  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
his  fellow-men,  the  primitive  law  which  is  formu- 
lated in  the  Book  of  Genesis:  "In  the  sweat  of 
thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread."  This  is  the 
primitive  law,  or  the  first  commandment,  as 
Bondareff  calls  it,  and  he  shows  us  that  it  is  a 
positive  law. 

This  is  a  law  as  well  for  those  who  have  not 
comprehended  the  true  meaning-  of  life  as  indi- 
cated by  Jesus  Christ ;  for  those  who  lived  before 
him,  and  also  for  those  who  have  not  believed  in 
him.  It  is  a  positive  law,  exacting  from  all  of  us, 
conformably  to  God's  will,  as  it  is  manifested  in 
the  Bible  and  to  our  intelligence,  to  support  our- 
selves by  labor.  It  preserves  this  character  even 
when  the  true  meaning  of  life,  as  indicated  by 
the  doctrine  of  truth,  is  unknown  to  men. 

But  where  men  well  know  this  aim  of  life  as 
pointed  out  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  law  of  labor  for 
bread  will  become  part  of  Christ's  positive  doc- 
trine (to  love  one  another),  and  will  then  have  a 
negative  and  not  a  positive  meaning. 

When  men  comprehend  the  true  Christian 
doctrine,  this  law  will  show  them  the  old  temp- 
tations which  they  must  avoid,  that  they  be  not 
turned  from  the  true  path. 

To  a  believ^er  in  the  Old  Testament  who  does 
not  recognize  the  doctrine  of  truth,  this  law  has 
the  following  meaning  :  "  Work  for  bread  with 
your  own  hands." 


Labor.  39 

But  to  the  Christian  its  signification  is  nega- 
tive. It  says  to  him  :  "  Do  not  believe  you  can 
do  good  to  mankind  while  overwhelming  them 
withlaborfor  others,  and  while  not  earning  your 
food  with  your  own  hands." 

It  shows  to  the  Christian  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  criminal  temptations  that  have  assailed 
mankind.  Against  this  temptation,  that  is  so  fatal 
in  its  consequences,  and  which  we  recognize  with 
difficulty  as  deceitful  and  contrary  to  human 
nature,  Bondarefi's  book  is  directed.  His  words 
are  as  obligatory  to  the  believer  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament as  to  him  who  accepts  the  Gospel,  to 
the  man  who  rejects  Scripture  and  relies  on  his 
own  reason,  as  to  him  who  comprehends  the 
doctrine  of  truth. 

Reader,  dear  brother,  whoever  thou  art,  I  love 
thee !  Far  from  seeking  to  grieve  thee,  or  to 
bring  evil  or  offence  into  thy  life,  I  wish  only  to 
serve  thee. 

I  desire  to  prove  fully  the  truth  of  this  thesis,  to 
refute  all  the  objections  that  are  made  against  it ; 
but  I  might  write  at  greatest  length  and  with  ut- 
most talent,  I  might  give  the  most  logical  rea- 
sons, and  yet  I  could  not  convince  thee,  if  thy 
spirit  contends  with  mine,  and  thy  heart  remains 
cold  and  insensible. 

One  thing  I  should  fear,  lest,  in  disputing  with 
thee,  tiie  pride  and  coldness  of  my  own  spirit 
should  overshadow  thine,  and  I  should  thus 
harm  thee.  Then  let  us  not  reason.  I  only  ask 
of  thee  one  thing:  do  not  discuss  or  demonstrate 
the  matter,  but  only  question  thine  own  heart. 


40  Labor. 

MVhoever  thou  art,  whatever  may  be  thy 
qualities,  however  good  thou  art,  in  whatever 
condition  thou  art  placed,  canst  thou  take  tran- 
quilly thy  tea  and  eat  thy  dinner,  canst  thou  oc- 
cupy thyself  with  politics,  fine  arts,  science, 
medicine,  or  teaching,  when  thou  seest  and  hear- 
est  the  man  who  is  lying  at  thy  door  sick  and 
starving?  No!  But  thou  wilt  say,  they  are  not 
always  there  at  my  door.  It  maybe  so;  but 
they  are  perhaps  but  a  short  distance  away 
from  thy  house,  and  thou  knowest  it.  Then 
thou  canst  not  live  tranquilly  ;  whatever  may  be 
thy  jo}^  it  is  poisoned  by  this  knowledge.  Not 
to  see  those  who  are  miserable,  thou  ma)^est 
barricade  thy  doors,  and  drive  them  afar  off,  or 
fly  thyself  to  a  retreat  where  there  may  be  no 
danger  of  finding  them.  But  they  are  every- 
where. And  if  thou  couldst  find  a  place  where 
thou  canst  not  see  them,  canst  thou  escape  thine 
own  conscience?     What  then  is  to  be  done? 

Thou  knowest,  and  Bondareff's  book  proves  it, 
that  thou  must  descend  into  the  depths,  or  what 
appear  to  thee  to  be  the  depths,  but  which  are 
really  the  heights.  Join  thyself  to  those  who 
feed  the  hungry  and  shelter  them  from  the  cold. 
Fear  nothing.  Far  from  being  worse,  thy  new 
estate  will  be  better  than  that  which  preceded 
it.  (Place  thyself  on  the  level  of  others  ;  under- 
take,^vith  thy  feeble  and  unaccustomed  hands, 
the  work  of  nourishing  and  clothing  the  needy  ; 
labor  for  bread,  contend  with  nature,  and  for 
the  first  time  thou  wilt  feel  the  ground  firmly 


Labor.  41 

with  thy  feet,  thou  wilt  be  filled  with  a  sense  of 
independence,  liberty,  and  strength  ;  thou  wilt  no 
longer  think  of  flying,  but  thou  wilt  taste,  with  a 
pure  joy,  innocent  pleasures  of  which  the  world 
has  never  given  thee  the  least  notion.  Thou  wilt 
know  at  last  those  strong,  simple-hearted  men, 
thy  own  brothers,  who,  notwithstanding  the  dis- 
tance at  which  they  have  hitherto  stood  apart 
from  thee,  have  always  nourished  thee.j 

To  thy  great  satisfaction,  thou  wilt  see  in  them 
virtues  hitherto  unknown;  thou  wilt  find  in 
them  a  modesty  and  goodness  of  which  thou 
wilt  feel  unworthy.  Instead  of  scorn  and  hatred 
from  those  that  wait  upon  thee,  thou  wilt  receive 
gratitude  and  respect,  because,  after  having 
lived  by  their  services  all  thy  life,  thou  wilt  now 
remember  their  miseries  and  endeavor  with 
feeble  hands  to  succor  them.  Thou  wilt  find  that 
the  islet  on  which  thou  didst  seek  refuge  from 
the  flood  that  would  have  engulfed  thee  is  but 
a  heap  of  rubbish,  whilst  the  seeming  sea  thou 
didst  fear  is  the  earth  itself.  Thou  wilt  now 
tread  it  with  bold,  tranquil,  and  joyous  feet. 

It  will  be  thus  with  thee,  because  in  abandon- 
ing the  dark,  false  ways  in  which  thou  hast  been 
wandering  unwittingly  and  against  thy  true 
intention,  thou  wilt  now  enter  upon  the  path  of 
truth  and  life.  Having  hitherto  disobeyed 
God's  will,  thou  wilt  now  faithfully  accomplish 
it. 

Lyof  TolstoL 

Moscow,  March,  1888. 


Second  fart. 


LABOR,  ACCORDING   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

BY   THE    PEASANT   BONDAREFF. 

"  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread:  dust  thou 
art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." — Genesis,  iii.  ig. 

Before  undertaking  to  treat  with  all  my  en- 
ergy of  the  questions  of  labor  and  idleness,  let 
me  explain  who  I  am.  Am  I  not  like  those  who, 
in  pointing  out  to  others  the  good  path  they 
should  follow,  wander  themselves  in  that  which 
is  evil,  and  most  opposed  to  equity  and  right- 
eousness ? 

Up  to  the  age  of  thirty-seven  years  I  worked 
as  a  laborer  on  the  estate  of  a  pomestchik*  on 
the  Don,  named  TchernozouboflF.  Every  one 
knows  how  one  in  that  condition  of  life  is  over- 
burdened with  work.  Later  the  pomestchik 
enrolled  me  as  a  soldier,  and  my  five  children, 
being  under  age,  remained  beneath  his  heavy, 
intolerable  3'oke. 

When  I  arrived  in  Siberia,  in  1857,  with  my 
wife  and  two  children,  we  possessed  only  the 
clothes  on  our  backs,  and  those  had  been  given 
us  by  the  State. 

*  The  proprietor  of  an  estate. 

42 


Labor.  43 

But  within  fourteen  years  I  have  acquired  a 
small  cottage  with  a  bit  of  ground,  so  that  I  am 
as  well  off  as  though  I  had  always  remained  a 
peasant. 

And  how  did  I  accomplish  this?  Simply  by 
cultivating  the  ground.  And  this  is  the  way  in 
which  I  labored.  When  they  reaped  the  grain, 
where  it  takes  two  laborers  to  bind  the  sheaves 
after  the  reaper,  I  did  it  alone,  in  spite  of  my 
sixty-five  years  of  age,  and  the  work  was  well 
done,  the  sheaves  strongly  bound.  God  is  my 
witness,  reader,  that  I  tell  only  the  truth. 

You  will  thus  see  that,  while  with  you  in  the 
great  world  the  superiority  is  given  to  the  gen- 
eral, with  us  it  is  gained  bv  the  good  workman. 

In  strict  justice,  I  should  then  have  the  right 
to  be  seated  by  the  side  of  the  general.  By  his 
side,  do  I  say  ?  He  ought  to  remain  standing 
before  me. 

And  why?  asks  the  alarmed  reader.  Because 
the  general  eats  the  bread  produced  by  my 
labor,  since  the  reverse  is  not  true :  and  this  I 
will  presently  show  in  my  justification. 

The  reader  now  knows  who  I  am. 

Have  I  then  no  reason  to  speak  and  write  of 
labor  and  of  idleness  ?  I  have  it  truly,  and  will 
use  it. 

If,  among  the  developments  and  reasonings 
that  follow,  any  be  found  that  seem  useless  or 
even  hurtful,  I  desire  they  shall  be  ignored. 
They  will  not  result  from  an  evil  intention  ;  it  is 


44  Labor. 

that  to  the  weakness  of   my   mind,  they  have 
wrongfully  seemed  to  contain  some  interest. 

You,  of  the  higher  classes,  write  your  thou- 
sands of  books.  Are  they  less  mistaken  or  hurt- 
ful than  mine?  And  yet  yours  a're  approved 
and  published. 

But  we,  of  the  lower  class,  write  this  little 
essa)'  for  all  time  and  in  self-defence,  and  doubt- 
less you  will  reject  it,  as  I  have  been  assured  you 
will,  claiming  that  it  possesses  neither  talent  nor 
eloquence.  It  will  be  great  injury  to  us,  and 
even  to  God  ;  and  I  know  with  great  certainty 
that  Heaven  will  one  day  come  to  our  side  if  you 
thus  reject  the  bread  of  life,  which  is  the  truth. 
\jCan  you  deny  this  truth,  and  live  without 
food  ?  No!  In  an  hour  you  would  stretch  out 
3'our  hand  to  the  tree  of  life  which  is  forbidden 
to  you, — to  gather  the  bread  earned  by  another's 
labor,  and  to  carry  it  away  with  you.  That 
deserves  thoughtH 

Therefore  I  pray  you,  reader,  to  have  pity  on 
yourself;  give  due  thought  to  this  question,  and 
you  will  be  reasonable.  If  others  refuse  to  ex- 
amine it,  you  will  not  be  responsible. 

Do  I  expect  a  recompen^se  for  the  trouble  I 
am  taking?  Is  it  for  that  that  I  labor  and 
write?  No  ;  I  expect  but  punishment  for  it,  as 
the  rich  have  assured  me. 

If  you  would  address  your  reproaches,  say 
they,  to  an  inferior  class,  you  would  receive  a 
recompense ;   but  since  you  stab  to  the  quick 


Labor.  45 

persons  ot  importance,  you  will  not  escape  pun- 
ishment any  more  than  you  will  death  itself. 

But  what  may  perhaps  save  you  will  be  that 
tliey  will  destroy  this  work. 

One  must  have  an  aim,  1  have  replied.  For 
the  truth  we  profess  we  must  be  willing  to 
suffer,  and  even  to  die.  But  it  may  be  that 
their  fault  is  the  gravest,  and  that  for  them  wia 
be  the  severest  punishment,  as  we  will  show 
presently. 

So  I  have  answered  the  idle  ones  who  have 
predicted  for  me  terrible  sufferings.  It  might 
be  for  my  interest  to  speak  in  allegory,  but  I 
will  not;  be  they  angry  or  no,  I  will  still  take 
tlie  straight  path. 

Many  rich  ones,  having  read  my  writings, 
are  offended  by  them.  "  You  write,"  they  say, 
"  not  against  the  world,  but  against  us  only." 

Therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  truth, 
I  pray  30U,  reader,  not  to  imagine  likewise.  I 
have  written,  in  the  name  of  all  laborers,  against 
those,  whoever  and  how  many  soever  they  may 
be,  who  do  not  produce  the  bread  they  eat  by 
the  labor  of  their  own  hands. 

All  my  writings  may  be  condensed  in  two 
sayings  : 

1.  Why,  according  to  the  first  commandment, 
do  you  not  labor  for  the  bread  that  you  eat, 
instead  of  eating  that  which  the  labor  of  others 
has  produced  ? 

2.  Why,  in  both  secular  and  theological 
books,  are  not  the  laborer  and   his  work  com- 


4^  Labor. 

mended,  instead  of  being  treated  with  extreme 
conten:ipt? 

To  state  these  questions  ought  to  be  enough. 
But  as  you  contemn  manual  labor  in  every- 
way, I  must  write  at  greater  length,  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

To  conclude,  I  pray  you,  reader,  not  to  eat 
for  two  days  before  judging  my  book. 


The  human  race  is  divided  into  two  classes: 
one  is  noble  and  honored,  the  other  humble  and 
despised.  Those  belonging  to  the  first  are 
richly  clothed,  possessing  tables  well  furnished 
with  exquisite  dishes,  and  they  are  majestically 
seated  in  places  of  honor;  but  those  belonging 
to  the  second  are  covered  with  rags,  their 
strength  exhausted  by  poor  food  and  hard 
work,  and  they  have  an  air  of  sorrowful 
humility,  as  they  remain  standing  on  the  thresh- 
old :  these  are  the  poor  laborers. 

The  truth  of  my  words  is  confirmed  by  the 
parable  in  the  Gospel.  ''There  was  a  certain 
rich  man,  which  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine 
linen,  and  fared  sumptuously  every  day :  and 
there  was  a  certain  beggar  named  Lazarus, 
which  was  laid  at  his  gate,  full  of  sores,  and 
desiring  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs  which  fell 
from  the  ricli  man's  table:  moreover  the  dogs 
came  and  licked  his  sores."  (St.  Luke  xvi. 
19-21) 

Well !  I  will  speak  to  my  companions,  the 
laborers  who  stand  on  the  threshold:  Why  do 


Labor.  47 

you  stay  there  always,  as  silent  as  so  many  quad- 
rupeds? Without  doubt  one  should  be  silent 
before  a  man  of  greater  merit,  but  we  should 
know  wherefore  and  to  what  extent  we  are  to 
be  silent,  and  not  humble  ourselves  basely,  or 
adore  him  as  an  idol. 

Thus,  in  the  name  of  this  latter  class,  I  address 
myself  to  the  former,  and  I  say :  Reply  to  the 
questions  I  will  ask. 

1.  Adam,  for  having  infringed  God's  command,' 
"  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  forbidden 
tree,"  lost  paradise  not  only  for  himself,  but  for 
all  his  race  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  We  see 
by  that  that  he  was  guilty  of  a  great  sin,  but 
we  must  not  believe  that  his  crime  consisted 
merely  in  eating  the  forbidden  fruit,  that  is,  the 
apple. 

2.  Then  he  tried  to  hide  himself  among  the 
trees  of  the  garden,  as  the  Scripture  recites. 

But  from  whom  would  he  hide?  Men  did 
not  yet  exist.     From  God,  then. 

Behold,  then,  the  madness  in  which  sin 
had  plunged  man !  Could  he  hide  from  the 
eyes  of  God  ?  We  see  that,  having  recognized 
his  fault,  he  waited  to  receive  his  punishment, 
and  this  is  God's  unexpected  decree: 

"  For  having  disobeyed  the  command  I  gave 
vou,  behold  your  punishment:  In  the  sweat  of 
thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread  :  dust  thou  ait, 
and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

3.  Ought  not  Adam,  then,  to  have  shed  tears 
of  gratitude  towards  God  for  the  great  mercy 


48    '  Labor. 

shown    him?     What   was   this    punishment    to 
that  which  he  might  hav^e  looked  to  receive  ? 

4. — Ma}'  we  then  believe  tiiat  Adam  labored 
for  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and  that  he 
eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  living 
by  the  work  of  his  hands,  although  he  w^as  a 
noble,  according  to  his  time,  since  he  is  the 
father  of  the  human  race? 

5.  Did  he  desire  dominion,  or  any  power 
whatever?  No.  For  though  he  listened  in  par- 
adise to  the  words  of  the  serpent,  who  said  to 
him  and  to  his  wnfe,  "Ye  shall  be  as  gods, 
knowing  good  and  evil," — that  is,  you  shall  live 
like  pomestchiks,  and  you  will  be  the  most  in- 
telligent beings  in  the  world, — they  nevertheless 
so  lost  spirit  as  to  seek  concealment  from 
God.     . 

Following  the  counsel  of  the  serpent,  Adam 
hoped  to  live  in  the  world  without  labor;  but  he 
was,  on  the  contrar)%  condemned  to  seek  his 
nourishment  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,  and  instead 
of  being  elevated  to  a  supreme  rank,  he  lost  his 
birth-place,  and  in  exile  was  poor  and  with- 
out shelter.  Thus  to  him  the  serpent  became  a 
horrible  creature,  to  whose  frightful  influence 
he  owed  his  own  loss  and  that  of  all  his  race. 

6.  Thus  you  will  see,  reader,  what  is  the  re- 
sult of  this  desire  for  possessions. 

And  what  must  we  think  of  one  who  thus 
gains  possessions,  that  is,  who  can  be  sheltered 
beneath  an  umbrella,  having  white  hands,  and 
who    during   all    his   life   eats   the   bread   that 


Labor.  49 

others  have  earned  ?     The  solution  of  this  enig- 
ma is  beyond  the  limits  of  reason. 

I  know  that  you  have  already  a  crowd  of  ob- 
jections to  make  to  my  ideas,  but  do  not  criticise 
them,  1  pray,  till  you  have  heard  me  to  the 
end. 

7.  Did  Adam  hope  for  a  moment,  by  means 
of  money  that  did  not  yet  exist,  or  by  any  other 
subterfuges  whatever,  to  turn  over  his  labor  to 
strange  hands,  to  remain  himself  under  an  um- 
brella, and  wait  for  the  results  of  others'  labor, 
like  a  beggar  or  a  drone?  Thus  many  do  in 
these  days,  who  regard  it  as  a  great  crime  to 
take  from  any  one  a  blade  of  straw  or  a  grain  of 
corn,  but  who  do  not  think  it  a  crime  to  take 
and  eat  the  food,  earned  by  others,  which  is 
served  at  their  tables. 

8.  But  if  our  father  Adam  received  a  pun- 
ishment in  proportion  to  his  crime,  and  sub- 
mitted to  it  willingly, — in  other  words,  if  he 
labored  with  his  hands  to  the  end  of  his  life,  as 
is  said,  "  Thou  shalt  return  to  the  ground, 
whence  thou  wast  taken," — we  see  that  he  is 
now  innocent,  and  has  atoned  to  God  for  his 
crime. 

9.  Holy  Scripture  again  says :  "  For  then 
Adam  will  stretch  out  his  hand  and  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  will  live  forever." 
It  has  been  supposed  this  means  literally  the 
tree  on  which  Christ  was  crucified.  But  that  is 
an  arbitrary  supposition.  Can  we  admit  that  to 
the  merits  of  another,  of  Christ,  that  man,  who 


50  Labor. 

has  no  merit  of  his  own,  obtains  pardon  for  his 
sins?  That  notion  was  evidently  invented  to 
strengthen  the  hope  that  we  may  without  labor, 
and  while  resting  at  ease,  inherit  eternal  life. 

But  if  this  tree  represents  Adam's  penance, 
and  means  the  duty  of  laboring  for  bread,  then 
a  severe  task  is  imposed  on  ourselves. 

Is  not,  then,  ray  interpretation  just,  by  which, 
if  Adam  ate  the  bread  his  own  hands  had  earned, 
he  should  then,  and  then  onl}',  live  throughout 
all  ages  ? 

For  example,  if  no  one  stretches  out  his  hand 
towards  the  tree  of  life,  that  is,  to  labor  for 
bread,  what  would  become  of  most  of  us?  In 
that  case,  could  the  world  itself  exist  ? 

We  see,  then,  clearly  that  vvc,  who  are  labor- 
ers, are  near  the  tree  of  life,  but  you,  who  will 
not  labor,  are  near  the  tree  of  death.  Havel 
spoken  justly  ?  One  must,  at  least,  acknowl- 
edge that  my  conclusions  are  trueli 

ID.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  if  Adam  by  his 
punishment  has  won  forgiveness  of  his  crime 
towards  God,  that  penitence  ought  also  to  atone 
for  the  sins  of  his  whole  life. 

But  as  man  continues  to  sin  against  God  as 
long  as  he  lives,  this  chastisement  is  decreed : 
"  To  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

Is  this  just? 

II.  And  you  of  the  higher  classes,  which  are 
but  branches  of  the  same  trunk,  why  will  you 
not,  in  all  your  existence,  submit  to  this  penance, 
and    why    must  you  eat  several   times  in   the 


Labor.  5  ^ 

day  ?  Are  you  not  as  miserable  as  I  am,  and  as 
are  the  laborers,  ray  companions? 

But  as  you  are  above  us,  you  are  more  intel- 
ligent and  better  educated,  and  yet  you  commit 
the  greatest  of  all  crimes  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  the  world. 

You  say,  ''  We  work  harder  than  the  laborer; 
and  it  is  with  the  money  gained  by  our  labor 
that  we  buy  bread." 

We  will  speak  of  that  presently. 

12.  We  see  by  what  has  been  said  that  we 
vainly  consider  how  we  should  atone  for  our 
sins,  for  God  knows  what  treatment  should  be 
prescribed  for  our  illnesses  or  wrong-doings,  and 
he  has  prescribed  this  ;  only  we  should  accept 
it  with  sincere  ardor,  and  not  use  divers  pre- 
texts to  evade  its  application. 

Is  this  true  ? 

13.  But  if  we,  x^dam's  posterity,  have  inher- 
ited liis  sin,  and  share  in  the  penance  attached 
to  it,  and  if  we  are  really  more  guilty  than  Adam, 
because  he  did  not  know  all  that  we  have  been 
taught,  then  we  ought  not  to  try  to  escape  that 
punishment,  nor  to  evade  the  penance  which 
God  himself  decreed  for  Adam  and  his  posteri- 
ty. Each  of  us  should  labor  to  gain  his  bread 
with  his  own  hands,  whether  he  be  rich  or  poor, 
and  whatever  may  be  his  merit  or  rank,  excus- 
ing only  the  sick  or  aged  persons  who  are  too 
feeble  to  work. 

14.  Doubtless,  if  we  do  not  examiie  manual 
labor  attentively,  the  duty  of  earning  our  nour- 


52  Labor. 

ishment,  and  their  respective  merits,  they  will 
not  seem  of  sufficient  value  to  atone  for  all  our 
sins,  and  to  render  us  innocent  in  the  sight  of 
God.  Because  if  we  work  only  for  ourselves, 
what  recompense  can  we  expect  ? 

I  have  already  said  what  this  recompense  is, 
and  I  will  repeat  it. 

But  if  the  merit  of  labor  seems  to  you  insuffi- 
cient, you  will  be  little  disposed  to  accomplish 
it,  even  if  an  angel  came  down  from  heaven  to 
explain  it. 

15.  You  see,  then,  how  Adam  atoned  for  the 
first  sin.  But  it  has  been  asserted  that  he  was 
for  that  exiled  to  hell  during  five  thousand  five 
hundred  years,  and  that  he  suffered  there  till 
Christ  delivered  him. 

But  this  is  certainly  an  interpretation  con- 
trary to  the  law.  And  why  do  you  assert  what 
is  not  conformable  to  law?  Is  it  to  be  delivered 
from  "  these  abominable  occupations,"  and  to 
live  like  a  pomestchik?  But  if  it  is  just  to  be- 
lieve that  Adam  owes  his  deliverance  to  manual 
labor,  then  let  us  devote  ourselves  assiduously 
to  J,hat  duty.  Is  it  just? 
j[T6.  I  ask,  then,  why  God  did  not  prescribe  to 
Adam  as  a  penance  our  most  esteemed  virtues, 
such  as  fasting,  prayer,  partaking  of  the  sacra- 
ments, etc.  Why  did  he,  instead,  direct  this 
labor  in  which  men  of  education  can  find  no 
virtue,  but  .who  regard  it  as  almost  a  vice? 
Why  is  this  rj 

17.  From  the  developments  thus  far  reached, 


Labor.  53 

it  would  seem  that  Adam  belonged  to  our  class, 
to  that  which  is  inferior  and  ignorant :  he  knew 
not  how  to  read,  to  write,  nor  to  speak  elegant- 
ly. God  gave  him  an  occupation  which  suited 
his  spirit ;  and  he,  being  weak,  submitted  to  it. 
But  God  orders  now  the  same  duty  for  men  who 
are  instructed  in  Scriptures  and  by  the  voice  of 
conscience ;  and  these  make  a  thousand  objec- 
tions to  it,  which  God  himself  would  not  know 
how  to  answer. 

Ii8.  Till  now,  we  have  spoken  only  of  Adam's 
penance,  and  not  that  of  Eve.  Could  not  God 
in  the  beginning  have  created  many  thousands 
of  people?  Why  did  he  create  only  these  two, 
the  husband  and  the  wife,  Adam  and  Eve? 
Evidently  because  in  human  life  there  are  two 
principal  affairs,  two  duties  of  equal  value  and 
importance:  the  one,  that  of  motherhood  ;  the 
other,  that  of  manual  labor.  God  said  to  Eve  : 
"  1  will  greatly  multiply  thy  sorrow,  and  thy 
conception:  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  forth 
children."  And  he  said  to  Adam  :  "  In  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread  ;  and 
thou  shalt  return  to  the  ground  whence  thou 
wast  taken^ 

19.  Now  I  ask  why,  in  the  woman's  penance 
only,  there  is  no  hidden  meaning  or  allegory, 
but  it  is  accomplished  literall}',  as  God  pro- 
nounced it?  The  woman  who  lives  in  a  poor 
hut  and  the  empress  on  her  throne,  wearing  a 
crown  on  her  head,  have  the  same  destiny  : 
they  "  bring  forth  children  in  sorrow."     There 


54  Labor. 

is  no  difference  between  them.     No  :  they  bring 
forth  children  in  such  sorrow  that  it  often  costs 
them  life  itseh^ 
Is  this  true? 

20.  But  the  woman  of  the  higher  class  may 
say  :  "  I  have  not  time  for  maternal  duties. 
They  would  take  me  from  urgent  affairs  of  state, 
and  occasion  more  loss  than  profit.  And  then, 
why  should  I  descend  to  the  level  of  the  meanest 
peasant  ?  Let  me  rather  pay  another  with  gold 
to  undertake  this  duty  for  me,  or  I  will  buy  a 
new-born  child  which  will  belong  to  me  as 
though  it  were  my  own."  Can  she  do  this,  and 
carry  out  such  plans?  * 

21.  No,  that  cannot  be  done;  we  cannot 
cl^ige  the  order  established  by  God. 

^^u  may  give  all  the  treasures  in  the  world 
to  purchase  a  child,  but  it  will  not  then  be  your 
own.  It  never  has  been  yours,  and  never  can 
be.     It  belongs  only  to  its  own  mother. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  question  of  food.  A 
man  may  neglect  the  duty  of  laboring  for  bread, 
he   may  buy  a  loaf  with  money  ;  but  that  loaf 

*  Bondareff's  ideas,  as  given  above,  have  inspired  several 
passages  in  Tolstoi's   What  should  he  done. 

"  Thou  shall  earn  thy  bread,  he  says  (page  216  of  the  French 
translation),  in  the  sweat  of  thy  face,  and  thou  shall  bring  forth 
children  in  sorrow. 

"  But  we  have  changed  all  that  !  as  exclaimed  Moliere's 
rh.iracter,  who  proclaimed  that  the  liver  is  on  the  left  side. 
Men  no  longer  must  labor  for  food  :  that  will  be  done  by  ina- 
rliinery;  and  women  need  no  longer  bear  children.  The  woild 
will  not  now  be  overcrowded  with  people." 


Labor.  55 

still  belongs  to  the  person  whose  labor  earned 

For  even  as  a  woman  cannot  purchase  moth- 
erhood with  money  or  in  any  other  way,  so  a 
man  ought  by  the  work  of  his  own  hands  to  pro- 
cure the  necessary  food  for  his  own  subsistence 
and  that  of  his  wife  and  children.  He  cannot 
elude  the  obligation  by  any  means,  whatever 
may  be  his  rank  or  merit. 

22.  No  species  of  animals,  of  birds,  or  of  rep- 
tiles, nothing  that  lives  in  the  air  or  on  the 
earth,  can  escape  the  destiny  God  has  planned 
for  it.  Man  alone,  the  most  educated  and  intel- 
ligent of  being<^,  attempts  it.  And  how  does  he 
excuse  the  attempt?  Will  he  have  recourse 
anew  to  the  falsehood  :  "  I  wgrk  more  than  the 
laborer,  and  I  buy  my  bread  with  the  money  I 
have  earned  by  my  work?"  Let  him  abandon 
this  excuse  which  is  so  false!  For  he  may  buy 
everything  in  the  world  with  money  excepting 
only  bread. 

23.  I  ask  once  more,  why  is  the  penance  in- 
flicted on  woman  to  be  literally  fulfilled,  accord- 
ing to  God's  command,  and  only  man's  penance 
to  be  considered  allegorical?  What  excuses, 
falsehoods,  and  pretexts  can  you  offer  that  are 
not  so  many  refutations  in  themselves  of  your 
views?  "This  command,"  says  the  educated 
and  intelligent  man,  "does  not  say  I  must  work 
in  the  field  with  scythe,  harrow,  or  flail.  I  eat 
my  bread  in  the  sweat  of  my  face.  That  suf- 
fices."   And  a  simple,  ignorant  man  like  me  will 


$6  Labor. 

believe  that  he  is  right  and  that  he  is  perfect. 
And  for  the  thij^^.time  I  ask  for  an  answer  to 
this  question:  \  Why  is  woman's  penance  to  be 
taken  literally,  while  man's  is  regarded  as  an  al- 
legoryr  { 

24.  Again,  God  says  to  the  woman,  according 
to  the  Scriptures  :  "  I  will  greatly  multiply  thy 
sorrow."  One  sees  here  that  there  can  be  no 
other  meaning  for  her  penance.  The  sorrows 
of  motherhood  are  beyond  description ;  the 
heart  only  can  comprehend  them,  "Thy  desire 
shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall  rule  over 
thee."  Now  all  this  occurs  as  it  is  written  in 
the  Scriptures.  Then  wh}^  if  the  duty  of  the 
laborer's  wife  is  literally  expressed,  should  it  be 
regarded  as  alleggrical  with  the  woman  of  the 
educated  class  ? 

25.  How  I  regret  the  want  of  eloquence  !  I 
feel  all  the  truth  and  value  of  this  reasoning, 
and  yet,  for  want  of  eloquence,  I  can  only  ex- 
press it  weakly  and  obscurely.  But  this  hope 
sustains  me,  that  if  gold  can  be  rescued  from 
the  very  mire,  so  much  more  shall  bread  won 
by  labor  be  preserved,  which  is  so  much  better 
known  and  so  much  dearer  to  us  than  gold. 

26.  God  said  to  the  woman  :  "  Thou  shalt 
not  work  to  earn  thy  food,  but  thou  shalt  bring 
forth  children  in  sorrow."  Why,  then,  do  our 
women  work?  Reader,  while  waiting  till  you 
have  found  an  answer  to  this,  I  will  myself  re- 
ply to  it. 

You  who  eat  in  idleness  the  food  we   have 


Labor.  57 

worked  for  are,  in  Russia,  of  the  number  of 
about  thirty  millions  ;  but  if  our  wives  are  not 
to  work,  as  says  the  commandment,  what  would 
happen  ?  Just  one  thing :  the  world  would 
perish  with  hunger. 

So  we  see  clearly  and  certainly  that  our  wives 
vi'ork  for  you,  and  accomplish  your  task  :  you 
cat  the  fruit  of  their  labor.  I  wonder  that  you 
do  not  fear  the  justice  of  God.  But  I  forget 
that  you  buy  your  food  with  money. 

Do  you  think  that  excuses  you  ? 

27.  If  a  woman  should  destroy  her  children, 
w^ould  she  not  merit  severe  punishment  for 
violating  God's  commandment  against  murder? 

And  should  not  men  be  equally  punished  for 
violating  the  command  God  has  given  them  ? 
It  has  been  said  :  if  they  will  not  work,  neither 
should  they  eat.  But  no,  they  eat  several  times 
a  da_f  with  avidity ;  without  that  they  could 
not  live. 

28. \A  woman  who  has  destroyed  her  child 
does  penance  all  her  life.  From  her  soul  she 
implores  pardon  of  God,  and  to  her  dying  hour 
she  will  fast  and  pray  in  penitence  for  her  sin. 
1  hus  she  may  hope  to  obtain  forgiveness  from 
God  for  her  crime. 

But  thou,  reader,  dost  thou  repent  all  thy  life 
for  having  eaten  the  bread  that  another  has 
earned  ?  Dost  thou  ask  pardon  of  God  and  man  ? 
No,  thou  dost  not  even  think  of  it ;  thou  art  only 
proud  of  thy  wealth,  thou  livest  well,  and  think- 
est  to  owe  God  nothing. 


58  Labor. 

29.  T<3  woman,  who  is  weaker  than  man,  God 
has  given  an  imperative  duty.  We  also  of  the 
lower  class,  being  weaker  than  thou  in  spirit, 
have  an  imperative  duty. 

But  thou,  being  better  educated  and  more 
intelligent  than  we  are,  dost  as  thou  wilt  in  the 
matter.  If  thou  choosest  to  do  so,  thou  wilt 
labor  with  th}^  hands,  but  not  otherwise  ;  and  no 
one  can  compel  thee  to  work. 

Since  thou  knowest  thy  duty,  and  leavest  it 
for  others  to  fulfil,  we  may  judge  thee  without 
mercy,  for  thou  dost  not  act  in  ignorance.  As 
for  me,  who  have  all  my  life  eaten  my  own  bread, 
and  nourished  others  through  my  labors,  1  show 
perhaps  a  poor  spirit,  but  I  have  thus  gained 
God'sfyrgiveness. 

30.^()ne  may  ask  why  this  commandment 
which  transcends  in  importance  all  others,  should 
be  unknown  among  men.  • 

I  think  the  cause  is  as  follows: 

If  it  were  given  to  laborers  to  explain  the  law, 
they  would  give  it  its  full  extent  and  meaning. 
Then  all  the  emperors,  kings,  and  princes  would 
comprehend  that  the  first  and  most  sacred  duty 
is  that  of  laboring  with  one's  hands.  Then  the 
lower  classes,  which  are  now  so  oppressed,  could 
take  breath,  and  could  carry  in  their  hearts  the 
key  of  all  laws,  "  Do  not  covet  what  belongs 
to  thy  neighbor." 

r^.  Those  who  explain  our  laws  scarcely  know 
what  grain  is,  or  how  it  is  produced  ;  thus  they 


Labor.  59 

have  overlooked  its  value,  and  the  labor  required 
for  its  production  : 

Because,  in  the  light  of  this  law,  all  religious 
practices  which  are  easy  of  accomplishment, 
and  exact  no  labor,  would  lose  their  force  and 
fall  into  disuse ; 

And  also  because  he  who  explains  a  law 
should  exemplify  it  by  his  example,  and  in  set- 
ting those  white  hands  to  work,  they  would  be 
found  incapable  of  such  labor. 

For  all  these  reasons  this  law  has  slumbered, 
and  has  been,  as  it  were,  consigned  to  a  living 
tomb,  whence  it  will  not  be  resurrected  to  the 
end  of  the  woria7| 

32.  If  this  commandment,  the  first  which  God 
has  given  us,  which  promotes  all  the  virtues,  and 
whence  we  derive  all  eternal  good,  whether 
earthly  or  heavenly,  were  duly  comprehended, 
men  would  so  cherish  the  cultivation  of  the 
ground  that  a  father  would  give  this  order  to  his 
son  :  "  When  I  am  at  the  point  of  death,  carry 
me  into  the  field  of  grain,  that  my  soul  may  there 
leave  my  body ;  and  in  that  same  field  inter  my 
remains." 

But  now,  what  happens? 

The  man  who  labors  expects  no  recompense 
from  God ;  and  he  who  uses  the  fruits  of 
another's  labor  looks  for  no  punishment. 

33.  If,  I  repeat,  this  commandment  were  com- 
prehended, how  abl}^  you  would  assist  your 
laborers  in  their  work  !  They  would  then  do  so 


6o  Labor. 

well  that  one  acre  would  produce  what  is  to-day 
gathered  from  five. 

But  how  shall  we  make  you  accept  this  law? 
If  it  were  we  who  failed  in  obeying  it,  you  could 
compel  us  to  respect  it ;  but  if  it  is  you  who  have 
withdrawn  from  its  obligation,  as  the  prodigal 
son  of  the  Gospel  left  his  father's  house,  who  is 
able  to  recall  you  to  your  duty  ? 

For  we  are,  in  your  estimation,  but  as  ciphers 
without  units  to  give  them  value,  as  certain 
might}'^  ones  have  said  of  us.* 

And  why  would  you  abase  us  in  this  way? 
Is  it  only  because  we  nourish  you  ? 

34.4God  could  certainly  have  found  some  other 
way  to  fertilize  the  ground  and  to  make  it  pro- 
duce grain,  but  he  has  made  this  labor  the  pen- 
ance for  our  sins.  In  other  words,  man  could 
not  help  sinning,  and  must  labor  for  his  own 
support,  and  it  is  by  this  labor  that  God  permits 
us  to  atone  for  our  sins.j 

But  you,  neglecting  tRis  precious  remedy,  and 
burying  it  in  a  tomb,  where  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  may  not  find  it,  you  decide  that  faith  in 
God  alone  can  save  you. 

Satan  also  believed  in  God,  and  obeyed  him, 
as  we  see  in  the  Book  of  Job,  ii.  1-3. 

*  It  might  be  believed  that  we  invented  this,  and  that  no  one 
had  so  spoken  of  us.  But  the  appellation  has  been  given  us 
many  times.     It  is  thus  we  might  reply  to  it: 

You,  then,  are  as  the  unit  i,  and  we  the  cipher  o.  But  as  we 
are  bound  to  your  service,  you  must  unite  these  figures,  i  and  o. 
which  make  10.     Thus  we  are  as  nine  to  one.     (Author's  note.3 


Labor.  6i 

You  have  made  labor  for  bread  a  secondary 
virtue  ;  and  you  will  be  severely  punished  by 
God,  and  judged  without  mercy,  because  for 
thousands  of  years  vou  have  hidden  this  law 
under  a  bushel,  and  have  slain  a  living  thing. 
Read  all  the  books  in  the  world,  and  you  will 
in  them  never  find  labor  or  the  laborers  held  in 
the  least  esteem.  They  are  classed  below  all 
else.  And  yet  it  is  to  the  laborer  that  you  must 
go  to  buy  bread,  and  its  productions  depends  on 
his  good-will.     Reflect  on  that. 

35.  All  the  crimes  that  are  committed  on  the] 
earth,  such  as  thefts,  assassinations,  frauds,  pil-^ 
lage,  exactions,  etc.,  result  from  the  concealment 
of  this  law  from  men. 

The  rich  man  will  do  all  in  the  world  to  es- 
cape this  odious  occupation;  the  poor  man  is 
eager  to  throw  it  off.  But  explain  to  men  its 
importance  and  virtue,  and  all  crime  will  cease 
forever,  while  men  will  be  delivered  from 
poverty  and  misery,  because  every  one  will  do 
his  best  to  fulfil  this  duty  to  God. 

I  remember  well  that,  fifty  years  ago,  the 
money  tax  was  four  roubles  a  head,  the  custom- 
house dues  were  trifling,  and  the  king's  treasury 
was  well  filled. 

To-day,  the  money  tax  is  thirty-five  roubles 
a  head,  and  all  others  are  ten  times  as  much  as 
formerly;  the  number  of  persons  liable  to  be 
taxed  is  doubled,  and  yet  they  complain  that  the 
amounts  collected  are  insufficient.  Thus  it  may 
be  foreseen  that  in  fifty  years  more  the  tax  will 


62  Labor. 

be  increased  to  one  hundred  roubles   a  head, 
and  the  people  will  all  be  ruined. 

And  why?  Because  every  one  wishes  to  be 
elegantly  attired,  without  working  for  it.  On 
all  sides  you  offend  us  in  an  insupportable  man- 
ner. People  have  become  tricky  and  given  to 
intrigue;  they  love  to  deceive  ;  and  thus,  having 
no  claim  on  the  treasury  for  the  least  sum,  they 
will  assert  that  it  owes  them  not  five  but  ten 
thousand  kopecks,  and  they  will  receive  them. 

In  the  last  days  of  March  1883  I  learned 
that  capital  punishment  had  been  re-established. 
I  trembled  at  this  news.  As  one  chops  meat' 
with  a  blunted  axe,  so  strikes  the  executioner. 
It  is  better  to  kill  outright  than  to  torture  in 
this  fashion.  j 

I  asked  myself  often  what  was  the  best  way' 
for  the  executioner  to  accomplish  his  duty. 

If  there  is  no  other  way,  if  we  cannot  by  any 
possibility  constrain  men  to  do  right,  then  we 
must,  against  our  will,  consent  to  shed  their 
blood. 

But  there  is  a  means,  a  decisive  remedy  for 
crime,  to  be  found  in  God's  most  ancient  law. 
For  it  was  not  without  intention  that  God  has 
not  imposed  any  command  before  this,  nor 
that  he  has  not  ordered  us  to  avoid  any  vice  ex- 
cept neglect  of  labor. 

We  thus  see  that  labor  embraces  all  virtues, 
while  idleness  and  luxury,  on  the  contrary,  pro- 
duce all  vices.     If,  then,  a  malefactor  is  found 


Labor.  63 

amonof  laborers,  it  is  because  he  does  not  observe 
this  law. 

We  must  not  deny  that  other  works  have 
merit,  but  they  are  only  to  be  considered  after  one 
has  earned  his  nourishment  with  his  own  hands. 

You  have  permitted  the  executioner  to  flog 
men,  but  what  men?  Evidently  us  only.  He 
touches  not  the  rich  man,  who  has  for  his  de- 
fence friends,  eloquence,  cunning,  and,  above  all, 
money.     We  have  no  such  advantages. 

Of  course  the  rich  man  must  expiate  his  crime, 
if  the  affair  reaches  the  ears  of  supreme  au- 
thority. But  it  is  usually  smothered  from  the 
beginning.  It  is  said  in  Deuteronomy':  "  Presents 
dazzle  the  judges'  eyes." 

Of  all  the  petitions  I  would  make  to  you  the 
dearest  to  my  heart  is  this:  Do  not  crush  the 
poor  while  sparing  the  rich.  And  if  you  must 
crush  any,  begin  with  the  head  rather  than  the 
tail.  Think  of  my  argument  against  your 
custom  of  shedding  human  blood.  Let  the  exe- 
cutioner disappear  from  among  men,  and  let 
even  his  name  become  unknown  in  all  the  world. 

36.  But  will  not  the  baser  sort  among  the 
people  say,  Here  are  such  and  such  ones  who 
live  on  the  labor  of  others,  why  may  not  I  do 
likewise? 

Then  I  will  rob,  slay,  and  exact  the  uttermost 
penny;  I  will  live  like  a  pomestchik,  with  my 
hands  in  my  pockets;  I  will  command,  and  no 
longer  obey.  For  it  is  not  by  honest  labor  that 
you  acquire  your  fine  houses.     "  Honest  labor 


/64  Labor. 

will  not  make  you  rich,  but  hunchbacked;  if 
you  do  not  sell  your  soul  to  the  devil,  you  will 
not  make  money."  * 

And  you  will  condemn  such  a  man  and  exile 
him  to  Siberia,  when  you  are  yourselves  the 
sole  cause  of  his  crimes. 

f-'  37.  You  see  now,  reader,  how  much  evil  there 
is  in  this  wrong,  this  neglect  of  labor  for  bread. 
You  see  the  evil  that  white  hands  may  do,  and 
jthe  good  that  labor-stained  ones  can  cause  to 
ispring  from  the  earth.  You  see,  in  fine,  the  good 
result  of  making  known  this  commandment. 

Have  good  writers  given  themselves  much 
trouble  to  explain  and  teach  it?     They  should 
have  shown  how  useful  is  its  observance,  how 
wrong    its    evasion.      They    should    have    en- 
deavored, by  speech  and  writing  and  by  relig- 
ious  ceremonies,   to   exhort   all   the    world    to 
manual  labor.     That  would  be  worth  a  thousand 
times  more  than  founding  a  faith  on  the  works 
and  merits  of  Christ  alone,  and  of  abandoning 
the  task  prescribed  by  God.     It  would  be  well  if 
writer  and  preacher  should  set  the  example ;  but  j 
how  can  we  make  people  labor  who  find  it  so! 
great  a  fatigue   to   carry  their   food    to   their ', 
mouths? 

38.  If  I  were,  in  truth,  a  man  who  would  avoid 
labor,  and  who  knew  nothing  of  it,  and  still 
sought  to  impose  these  opinions  on  others,  every 
one  would  have  the  right  to  spit  in  my  face,  and 

*  Russian  proverb. 


Labor.  65 

to  treat  me  with  disdain.  And  if  I  had  hitherto 
been  held  in  esteem  among  men,  I  might  well  be 
henceforth  treated  as  a  nobody. 

This  is  the  reason  why  writers  have  never 
spoken  of  this  commandment,  nor  ever  will 
speak  of  it  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

Adam  committed  a  crime.  God  punished 
him  according  to  the  greatness  of  his  fault,  as 
we  see  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  he  thus  gained 
forgiveness  from  God.  Why,  then,  should  tradi- 
tion say  that  he  was  sent  to  hell  for  five  thou- 
sand five  hundred  years? 

The  New  Testament  makes  no  allusion  to  this 
exile.  Whence,  then,  comes  the  legend?  If  it 
is  true,  God,  in  imposing  on  him  the  penance  of 
labor,  deceived  Adam  by  a  false  promise.  For 
if  this  labor  was  of  no  utility  to  Adam,  if,  after 
enduring  all  its  fatigues  during  his  life,  he  was 
condemned  after  death  to  the  torments  of  hell, 
every  one  would  exclaim,  "  Is  this  the  recom- 
pense God  gives  us  for  our  labor?"  If  that  be 
true,  what  can  we  do?  How  shall  we  act? 
How  must  we  live  ?  by  robbery  and  murder  ?. . . . 

And  then  you  invent  new  laws,  you  have  need 
of  the  executioner,  you  brand  men  with  hot 
irons,  you  send  them  into  exile,  women  remain 
widows,  and  orphans  become  in  their  turn  a 
prey  to  vice  and  crime. 

And  whose  is  the  fault  ? 

Evidently  his  who  has  concealed,  and  con- 
tinues to  conceal,  the  law  of  labor. 

39.  If  there  were  in  the  world  a  man  having 


66  Labor. 

over  you  the  same  power  that  you  hold  over 
us,  he  might  permit  you — though  with  reluc- 
tance and  much  gnashing-  of  teeth— to  live 
without  manual  labor.  But  you  excite  envy 
in  the  laborers;  and  in  displaying  the  idleness 
of  your  life,  you  weaken  the  hands  that  are  de- 
voted to  labor.  Instead  of  helping  them,  the 
sight  of  your  idleness  discourages  their  work, 
and  even  tempts  them  to  commit  crimes. 

What  a  pity  there  is  not  such  a  man  in  au- 
thority over  you  !  For  we  hear  the  cry,  "  God 
is  in  heaven,  and  the  Czar  afar  off." 

40.  We  may  see,  by  what  has  been  said  and 
by  what  follows,  that  the  man  who  eats  the  bread 
he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor  is  happy  in  this 
world  and  blessed  in  the  world  to  come. 

But  the  contrary  happens  to  him  who  con- 
sumes the  results  of  another's  labor.  No  other 
virtue  can  save  him,  because  he  has  disobeyed 
the  principal  commandment,  and  obedience  to 
others  cannot  supply  a  remedy. 

41.  All  the  products  of  the  earth  are  bought 
and  sold  at  their  price,  which  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  is  suitable,  and  each  nieiit  has  its 
own  recompense.  But  when  our  labor,  that  is, 
our  bread,  is  taken  from  us  for  nothing,  we  are 
neither  paid  nor  recompensed.  Why  is  not  our 
labor  paid,  you  ask,  reader?  Must  I,  then, 
repeat  the  same  thing  ten  times  over.-^ 

42.  Tell  me,  I  pray  you,  conscientiously,  will 
you  labor  for  your  bread  as  much  as  thirty  days 
in  the  year  ?   Does  that  seem  impossible  to  you  ? 


Labor.  6/ 

Is  it  because  you  cannot,  or  that  you  will   not 
do  this?     Tell  me  sincerely. 

43.  Labor  for  bread  is  a  sacred  duty  for  each 
of  us,  and  we  should  not  make  excuses  to  avoid 
it.  The  more  a  man  is  educated,  the  more  he 
owes  the  example  of  labor,  neither  pretending 
to  discover  obstacles  to  it,  nor  abandoning  it 
altogether. 

44.  Ought  I  to  seek  theological  proofs  because 
I  desire  your  salvation  ?  No,  but  because  only 
that  theology  offers  good  reasons  in  favor  of 
labor ;  and  because,  also,  people  of  my  class  be- 
lieve firmly  in  God,  in  a  future  life,  and  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  When  they  hear  these  words 
they  will  eagerly  grasp  this,  and  all  other  kinds 
of  labor,  like  those  who  are  dying  of  hunger  and 
thirst. 

45.  Then  the  dark  night  will  become  to  them 
as  the  bright  day,  the  passing  storm  will  reveal 
a  serene  sk}^,  cold  will  become  warmth,  and  old 
age  will  blossom  into  a  flourishing  youth. 

Therefore  I  draw  from  the  Holy  Scriptures 
the  arguments  therein  contained,  but  I  do  not 
address  them  to  you. 

Who  will  read  these  articles  to  the  people  ? 
You  have  not  the  right  to  do  so.  Must  you 
persuade  the  laborers  themselves  to  read  them? 
That  is  impossible,  for  in  so  doing  you  will  com- 
mit a  grave  error. 

46.  As  the  proverb  says,  "  we  have  not  every 
day  a  feast,"  but  on  the  contrary  it  is  alvva3^s 
Lent.     We  should  always  instruct  others  to  be 


68  Labor. 

pleasing  to  God  and  useful  to  society.  But  the 
time  has  come  when  we  have  but  to  ask  this 
question :  Why  do  you  teach  others,  when  you 
cannot  teach  your  own  selves  ?  As  is  said  in 
the  same  sense,  ''  You  place  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  men  heavy  burdens,  that  3^ou  would  not 
so  much  as  touch  with  your  little  finger."  We 
must  set  the  example  of  virtue,  and  encourage 
people  to  cultivate  it,  lest  the  scythe  in  cutting 
the  grass  shall  become  broken  against  a  stone. 

47.  O  ye  who  belong  to  the  upper  classes  of 
society,  reflect  on  this :  If  all  the  laborers  in  the 
world  should  abandon  labor  for  bread  as  you 
do,  then  every  one  would  die  of  hunger.  Do 
you  admit  that  we  could  do  this  with  as  much 
reason  as  you  do? 

We  do  not  rest,  you  say,  we  work  unceas- 
ingly. We  do  not  eat  food  without  paying  for 
it  with  the  money  we  have  earned  by  our  work, 
and  we  give  the  price  that  the  lat)orer  demands. 
We  eat  our  bread  in  the  sweat  of  our  face. 

And  if  we  all  work,  where  will  the  poor  get 
their  money  ?  We  give  it  them,  and  they 
give  us  bread.  We  live  by  them,  and  they  by 
us.  We  cannot  govern  and  direct  others,  and 
at  the  same  time  labor  with  our  hands. 

The  commandment  given  to  Adam  applies 
not  only  to  labor  for  bread,  but  to  all  our  other 
occupations.  Even  as  we  cannot  live  without 
bread,  we  cannot  live  without  the  things  with 
which  we  occupy  ourselves.  God,  in  creating 
the  world,  intended  that  we  should  labor  at  dif- 


Labor.  69 

ferent  sorts  of  work.  Man  amasses  wealth  to  get 
rid  of  this  uncongenial  labor.  In  short,  it  is  im- 
possible to  be  occupied  with  many  affairs  at  once. 

1  have  no  rest ;  night  and  day  I  have  my  oc- 
cupations, I  have  scarcely  the  time  to  eat  food 
already  prepared.  If  we  too  must  labor  for 
bread,  then  the  universe  must  of  necessity  per- 
ish. I  have  plenty  of  money,  and  I  use  it  in 
great  enterprises  without  labor,  and  yet  you 
want  me  to  go  into  the  fields  and  torture  myself 
for  thirty  kopecks  a  day !  I  would  be  regarded 
as  a  simpleton.  I  prefer  to  work  with  my  money 
at  home. 

But  if  all  the  world  must  labor,  let  those  begin 
who  are  a  hundred  times  richer  than  I ! 

48.  These  are  the  pretexts  and  objections  that 
you  make  to  the  law  ;  these  are  the  reasons 
why  you  who  belong  to  the  upper  class  would 
decline  to  labor  for  bread.  If  all  of  us  laborers 
did  the  same,  would  you  admit  it  as  a  justifica- 
tion when  the  plea  is  made  by  us? 

No  ;  but  with  your  absolute  power,  you  would 
smother  us  and  our  reasons  together. 

But,  I  ask  you,  why  do  you  look  upon  your 
excuses  as  legitimate  ? 

Bring  together  a  number  of  men  belonging 
to  the  great  world,  who  waste  their  thoughts 
on  its  vanities,  and  ask  them  what  answer  you 
ought  to  make  to  this  question. 
'49!  Bread  should  be  neither  bought,  nor  sold, 
nor  used  in  traffic.  You  cannot  with  bread 
heap  up  riches,  for  its  value  is  beyond  human  es- 


70  Labor. 

timation.  It  is  only  in  certain  cases  that  it  may 
be  given  away,  as  to  hospitals,  to  orphanages,  to 
prisoners,  to  countries  ruined  by  bad  harvests, 
to  people  deprived  of  everything  in  a  fire,  to 
widows,  to  orphans,  to  the  infirm  and  aged,  and 
to  those  who  have  no  home^ 

50.  This  law  is  ignored  in  the  world,  as  we 
have  seen,  and  as  I  will  show  you  further. 
They  might  have  placed  it  among  virtues  of  less 
importance,  but  they  have  not  even  accorded  it 
that  much  honor. 

Nature  herself  leads  the  laborer  to  seek  the 
highest  good;  that  is  to  say,  bread. 

But  if,  not  content  onl}''  to  see  that  it  is  indeed 
an  excellent  thing,  he  can  penetrate  Nature's 
profound  mysteries,  he  will  then  realize  what 
has  been  said  in  the  preceding  article.  It  will 
no  longer  be  said,  "  Give  me  bread,"  but  rather, 
"  Take  of  my  bread,"  and  I  do  not  believe  any 
man  will  enjoy  eating  the  bread  that  another 
has  prepared. 

But  at  present,  what  must  be  done?  You 
have  put  away  this  commandment  as  one  plunges 
a  stone  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,  so  that  its 
name  and  its  memory  are  lost  to  the  world. 
God  will  judge  between  us  and  you. 

51.  Here  are  some  objections  that  a  rich  man 
has  made  to  me  :  "  How  can  you  say  that  it  is 
forbidden  to  buy  and  sell  bread,  and  to  make  a 
profit  by  the  traffic  ?  Besides  that  which  histor- 
ians relate,  we  see  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  that 
bread  was  bought  and  sold   and   used  in  traffic, 


Labor.  'JX 

yet  in  spite  of  that,  they  sinned  not  against  God. 
You  maintain  also  that  bread  cannot  be  ex- 
changed for  money  ;  that  we  must  absohitely  la- 
bor for  it  with  our  hands.  It  is  an  evident  absur- 
dity. Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  other  ancestors 
of  the  human  race  were  rich,  and  had  their 
slaves,  both  male  and  female.  We  must  conclude 
that  they  did  not  work  themselves,  but  ate  bread 
produced  by  the  labor  of  others ;  and  yet  they 
were  not  for  that  reason  held  guilty  before 
God. 

52.  And  to  prove  more  strongly  the  falsity  of 
your  assertions,  the  two  great  legislators,  Moses 
and  Jesus  Christ,  have  never  spoken  of  this 
commandment.  When  Moses  wrote  :  "  Knead 
thy  bread  in  the  sweat  of  thy  face,"  he  referred 
to  all  occupations.  This  must  be  the  sense  we 
are  to  give  to  his  words,  if  we  remember  that 
Moses  lived  for  forty  years  at  the  court  of 
Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  without  working. 
During  the  following  forty  years,  he  herded 
sheep  in  the  pastures  of  his  father-in-law  Jethro, 
in  the  land  of  Midian  *  ;  but  he  did  not  labor  for 
bread.  During  forty  other  years  he  commanded 
the  Israelites  in  the  Wilderness,without  laboring. 
Thus  he  never  labored.  Nevertheless,  God  ac- 
cepted him,  loved  him,  and  placed  him  above 
all  other  prophets ;  but,  according  to  you,  Moses 
was  a  parasite. 

53.  It  is  the  same  with  Jesus  Christ.     He  is 

*  "  Moses  kept  the   flock   of   Jethro,    his   father-in-law,  the 
priest  of  Midian."    '  Exodus  iii.  i.' 


']2  Labor. 

himself  God,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  it  was  he  who  judged  Adam  in  paradise ; 
but  instead  of  "  Knead  thy  bread  in  the  sweat 
of  thy  face,"  he  says  in  the  Gospel,  "  Behold 
the  fowls  of  the  air;  they  sow  not,  neither  do 
they  reap,  nor  gather  into  barns ;  but  God  feed- 
eth  them." 

Do  you  not,  then,  see  that  labor  for  bread  is 
of  slight  benefit,  nor  has  it  in  this  life  even  util- 
ity? It  is  indeed  the  most  useless  of  all  labor, 
and  God  imposes  it  on  the  idle. 

54.  And  furthermore,  show  me  a  laborer 
whom  God  has  admitted  into  heaven  for  his 
work's  sake.  We  do  not  know  if  the  prophets 
were  rich,  but  neither  do  we  know  that  they 
were  poor.  But  as  their  books  were  approved, 
we  may  conclude  they  were  rich,  because  a  poor 
man's  book  would  never  be  approved,  no  mat- 
ter how  useful  it  might  be. 

To  this  Sirach,  a  man  inspired  by  God,  bears 
witness  \vhen  he  says :  "  The  rich  man  uttereth 
a  folly,  and  all  are  silent,  his  words  are  vaunted 
to  the  skies.  The  poor  man  speaks  reasonably, 
and  instead  of  approving  him,  they  say,  *  Who 
art  thou  ? '  * 

*  "  If  the  rich  man  is  deceived,  every  one  helps  him;  if  he 
gpeaks  insolently  (if  he  reveals  what  should  have  been  a  secret), 
he  is  justified.  But  if  the  poor  man  is  deceived,  he  is  re- 
proached; if  he  speaks  wisely,  he  is  not  listened  to. 

"  When  the  rich  man  speaks,  all  are  silent,  and  they  vaunt 
his  words  to  the  skies.  When  the  poor  man  speaks,  they  say, 
Who  art  thou?  (they  reproach  him  with  his  poverty,  and  force 
him  to  be  silent.)  And  if  he  makes  a  mistake,  they  will  pass 
it  over."     (Ecclesiasticus  xiii.  26.     Translated  by  Sacy.) 


Labor.  73 

It  is  true  Jesus  Christ  calls  the  poor  "  his 
brethren,"  but  this  is  only  to  encourage  them, 
lest  they  fall  into  despair.  The  proof  of  this  is 
that  He  himself  frequented  only  the  houses  of 
the  rich,  and  never  entered  those  of  the  poor. 

55.  My  adversary  continues  by  saying :  When 
Noah  came  into  the  world,  his  father  Lamech 
said :  "  This  same  shall  comfort  us  concerning 
our  work,  and  toil  of  our  hands,  because  of  the 
ground  which  the  Lord  hath  cursed."  (Genesis 
V.  29.) 

And  thus  we  are  delivered  from  the  curse  of 
labor ;  but  you,  the  laborers,  are  still  kept  un- 
der it ;  and  it  must  be  hoped  that  God  will  not 
condemn  you,  because  our  class  has  trampled 
you  under  its  feet.  And  is  that  a  sin  in  God's 
eyes  ?  No,  for  it  has  been  God's  will  that  it 
should  be  so. 

56.  It  is  further  written  in  the  Scriptures : 

"  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city,  and  cursed 
shalt  thou  be  in  the  field. 

"Cursed  shall  be  thy  basket  and  thy  store. 

"  Cursed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body,  and 
the  fruit  of  thy  land,  the  increase  of  thy  kine, 
and  the  flocks  of  thy  sheep. 

"  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou  comest  in, 
and  cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou  goest  out. 

"The  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee  cursing, 
vexation,  and  rebuke  in  all  that  thou  settest  thy 
hand  unto  for  to  do,  until  thou  be  destroyed, 
and  until  thou  perish  quickly ;  because  of  the 


74  Labor. 

wickedness  of  thy  doings,  whereby  thou  hast 
forsaken  me."     (Deuteronomy  xxviii.  16-20.) 

The  adjective  cursed  signifies  unhappy.  I 
ask,  cries  the  rich  man,  to  whom  do  these  words 
apply?  to  the  rich  or  to  the  poor?  Certainly 
to  the  poor  laborer,  he  adds.  Do  you  see  now, 
Bondareff,  how  many  curses  God  sends  upon 
the  poor  laborer,  upon  his  goods,  and  even  upon 
future  generations  ? 

On  such  laws  is  founded  the  society  of  the 
world. 

57.  Have  I  told  the  truth  ?  he  asks,  and  I  have 
replied,  yes. 

Can  I  contradict  him  ?  It  would  be  useless. 
Could  my  arguments  overcome  him  ? 

I  am  content  to  say  to  myself,  You  speak 
falsely,  sir  !  You  have  not  so  much  brains  as 
you  think,  nor  am  I  the  fool  you  imagine  me  to 
be.    On  both  points  you  deceive  yourself  greatly. 

There  are  many  distinguished  persons  who 
feel  no  horror  of  my  poverty  ;  they  can  judge 
fairly  between  us. 

58.  The  rich  man  says:  If  a  man  of  your  in- 
ferior class  obtains  some  education,  he  will  seek 
an  occupation  in  which  he  may  dispense  with 
manual  labor. 

Thus  if  you  were  all  educated,  you  would 
labor  no  more,  but  would  imitate  us. 

But,  I  ask,  what  will  we  then  eat? 

We  will  live  as  Christ's  commandment  points 
out:  "Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air;  they  sow 
not,    neither   do    they    reap ;    nor   gather   into 


Labor.  75 

barns;  but  God  feedeth  them."  So  he  answers 
me. 

All  these  arguments  are  absolutely  opposed 
to  the  primitive  and  to  the  natural  law. 

I  ask  of  the  rich  man:  Which  is  the  most 
immutable  law?  Is  it  the  theological  law  that 
man  has  written  upon  paper,  or  the  natural  law 
that  God  has  written  in  our  hearts?  Tru^y, 
neither  is  to  be  rejected,  but  I  myself  prefer  the 
natural  law,  and  I  hope,  reader,  that  you  will 
agree  with  me. 

59.  Well,  Bondareff,  if  you  will  present  your 
propositions  to  the  government,  with  mine  by 
their  side,  my  arguments  will  be  approved,  and 
recognized  as  true  and  praiseworthy,  while 
yours  will  be  rejected. 

60.  You  see  now,  reader,  how  far  I  have 
carried  my  loyalty.  I  might  have  concealed 
these  objections  to  my  arguments,  but  I  will 
not  palter  with  the  truth,  because  it  is  wrong 
to  speak  of  this  great  and  sacred  duty  of  labor- 
ing for  bread,  and  at  the  same  time  to  disguise 
the  truth  under  an  ignoble  flattery. 

But  if,  in  my  answer,  you  find  a  bitterness 
that  seems  to  you  insupportable,  clench  your 
teeth  and  say  nothing.  I  pray  you,  do  not  seek 
a  quarrel  with  me. 

You  are  so  accustomed  to  listen  to  flatterers, 
that  my  frankness  will  seem  to  you  intolerable. 

61.  Let  us  return  to  our  question.  How  many 
thousand    measures*    of     wheat,    how     many 

*  The  measure  spoken    of  contains   about  i6  kilogrammes. 


76 ,  Labor. 

roubles,  are  taken  from  us  each  year  for  taxes 
and  other  exactions?* 

Besides  this  revenue,  the  great  lords,  the 
pomestchiks,  the  merchants,  and  all  the  rich 
possess  innumerable  millions.  But  money  is 
not  given  away.  It  must  he  earned  by  our 
arms  of  flesh  and  blood,  according  to  the  com- 
mandmefit  I  have  given,  and  not  by  the  pen  or 
the  tongue. 

62.  Your  manner  of  living  is  to  us  a  most 
cruel  offence,  and  to  yourselves  a  shame.  I 
know  you  are  a  hundred  times  more  educated 
and  intelligent  than  I,  and  therefore  you  take 
my  money  and  my  bread.  But  since  you  are 
so  intelligent,  you  should  have  pity  on  me  who 
am  weak.  It  is  said,  "  Love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,"  and  I  am  your  neighbor,  as  you  are 
mine. 

Why  are  we  poor  and  clownish  ?  It  is  because 
we  eat  the  bread  of  our  own  labor.  Have  we 
time  to  study  and  to  be  instructed  ?  You  have 
taken  both  our  bread  and  our  intelligence  from 
us  by  fraud  or  violence ;  you  have  criminally 
appropriated  all. 


*The  taxes  are  not  levied  on  us,  but  on  the  mines  and 
other  works.  The  manufacturers,  however,  raise  the  prices 
of  their  merchandise,  and  so  make  us  pay  the  amount  of  the 
taxes.  And  I  ask  you,  whose  hands  have  labored  to  earn  this 
money?  In  truth  they  are  ours.  But  in  whose  hands  does 
the  money  remain  ? 

In  your  white  hands,  that  you  may  enjoy  your  luxury. 

In  a  word,  tjie  whole  world  is  in  our  hands.     {Author's  note.] 


Labor.  77 

It  is  so,  reader,  whether  you  like  it  or  not. 
It  is  not  my  fault  that  the  truth  is  bitter. 

63.  The  eagerness  of  your  desire  makes  you 
ask  of  God  for  purity  of  air  and  an  abundance 
of  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  It  is  well.  But  to 
whose  hands  do  you  owe  this  abundance?  Who 
ought  to  cultivate  the  ground?  Is  it  you,  or 
some  other  one  ? 

Can  it  be  I,  with  my  white  hands?  you  an- 
swer. Truly  it  is  to  you,  laborers,  that  this 
work  belongs.  I  would  rather  die  of  hunger 
than  to  gather  a  blade  of  straw  or  a  grain  of 
wheat. 

64.  You  should  ask,  before  meals,  for  a  bless- 
ing upon  your  food,  not  from  God,  but  from  us, 
the  laborers;  and  after  3^our  repast  you  should 
thank  us  for  it,  and  not  God. 

If  God  sent  you  manna  from  heaven  as  he 
did  to  the  Israelites  in  the  Wilderness,  you 
should  thank  him  ;  but  since  it  is  from  our  hands 
that  you  receive  your  manna,  you  should  thank 
us,  because  we  nourish  you  as  though  you  were 
infants  or  invalids. 

65.  When  I  had  written  this  much,  some 
laborers  said  to  me:  "All  this  is  useless.  Do 
you  believe  you  can  make  the  rich  man  labor 
for  his  bread  ?  If  the  prophets  and  the  masters 
of  all  wisdom  came  to  urge  it  upon  him,  he 
would  not  listen  to  them.  If  God  should  cry 
in  his  ears  with  the  trumpet  of  doom,  *  You  are 
about  to  die,  and  to  present  yourself  to  me  for 
judgment,  and  your  disobedience  to  my  com- 


78  Labor. 

mand  merits  eternal  punishment,' — even  then 
the  rich  man  will  remain  unmoved,  for  he  pre- 
fers his  wealth  to  all  divine  benefits.  Laboring 
for  bread  is  to  him  more  horrible  than  torture. 
And  you,  who  are  but  as  the  dust  beneath  his 
feet,  would  seek,  by  expressing  3'our  own  con- 
victions, to  induce  him  to  work  !" 

66.  I  know,  1  replied  to  them,  that  it  is  in- 
deed impossible. 

But  they  may  approve  of  my  arguments, 
since  they  are  taken  from  the  chief  divine  laws ; 
and  perhaps  they  may  make  them  known  to 
their  laborers.  For  this  good  action  alone  God 
would  greatly  reward  them.  Then,  like  per- 
sons suffering  from  hunger  and  thirst,  men  will 
hasten  to  accomplish  this  work.  They  will  not 
give  themselves  to  other  occupations  till  after- 
wards, for  they  all  depend  on  labor  for  bread. 
Then  the  obscure  night  will  be  as  the  brightest 
day,  and  all  will  be  easy.  For  this  reason, 
amid  all  the  cares  and  labors  of  my  life,  I  have 
undertaken  this  task. 

dj.  And  then  the  superior  class  will  see  our 
merit,  which  it  had  never  before  remarked  or 
heard  of.  It  will  feel  culpable  towards  God  and 
man ;  it  will  no  longer  depend  on  or  oppress  us 
as  it  does  now.  We  are  bought  at  half  price, 
and  sold  for  double  the  amount.  When  a 
rich  man  finds  himself  in  a  poor  country,  far 
from  the  cities  and  commercial  centres,  he  meets 
no  one  with  whom  he  can  buy  or  sell.  At  each 
mouthful   of   bread   men  will  ask,  in   spite   of 


Labor.  79 

themselves  :  Whose  hands  have  prepared  this 
food  ?  And  as  for  their  conscience !  Wealth 
cannot  silence  it.  It  will  compel  men  to  be 
kinder  to  those  who  supply  them  with  food. 
Hoping  this,  I  have  undertaken  ray  task. 

68.  And  even  if  this  commandment  is  graven 
but  superficially  in  your  hearts,  O  you  of  the 
educated  class,  you  will  not  the  less  employ 
all  your  powers  to  eat  only  the  bread  of  your 
own  labor,  and  you  will  reason  thus:  Among 
the  poor  and  the  laborers,  not  only  the  strong 
men  are  Irboring  for  bread,  but  also  feeble 
women,  wlio  have  young  children  that  are 
thus  neglected.  The  new-born  child,  in  its 
cradle,  suffers  from  the  hot  air  and  the  insects 
that  torment  it,  while  its  body  is  scorched  by 
the  sun.  (Children  of  seven  years  also  labor 
so  far  as  they  have  strength  for  it,  and  old 
men  of  seventy  who  cannot  bend  their  backs 
when  reaping  the  harvest,  must  do  it  on  their 
knees.  Thc^se  things  occur  even  yet;  but  for- 
merly, in  the  days  of  slavery,  it  was  much  worse. 
All  these  families  live  and  die  on  the  earth, 
following  the  precept,  "  Dust  thou  art,  and  unto 
dust  must  Ihou  return."  Think  a  little  about 
this,  ye  educated  men! 

69.  But  among  us,  you  will  say,  a  man  of 
thirty,  in  good  health,  continues  all  his  life,  even 
in  summer,  to  whistle,  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets,  while  waiting  for  these  poor  martyrs 
to  put  his  food  between  his  teeth. 

With    us,  the  laborers,  on  the  contrary,  not 


8o  Labor, 

only   in  summer,  but  even  in  winter,  our  gar- 
ments are  soaked  in  the  dews  of  labor. 

Among  all  Christians,  the  first  and  most  im- 
portant sacrament  is  baptism.  But  I  ask  you, 
which  washes  away  the  most  sin?  Is  it  the 
water  of  baptism,  or  the  sweat  which  streams 
from  our  faces,  while  all  our  lives  are  conse- 
crated to  laboring  for  bread  ?  There  is  a  prov- 
erb often  cited  amongst  us,  "  The  peasant's 
frock  is  gray,  but  the  devil  has  not  devoured 
his  reason."  This  proverb  is  not  true,  for  1 
know  certainly  that  I  might  ask  questions  for- 
ever without  getting  an  answer.  Conse- 
quently, the  devil  has  devoured  my  reason!''  It  is 
certain  that  we  cannot  discover  with  our  nar- 
row minds  the  secrets  of  God's  ways  with  the 
world,  but  we  may  believe  that  while  you  were 
washed  in  the  water  of  baptism  at  your  birth, 
that  never  since  has  any  labor  bathed  your  face 
in  sweat. 

For  me,  I  have  not  been  washed  in  the  water 
of  baptism ;  thus  must  I  all  my  life  be  bathed 
in  sweat.  Nevertheless,  which  is  the  cleaner 
of  the  two — you  who  have  been  baptized,  or 
I  who  have  not  ? 

You  see,  then,  what  your  falsehood  is  worth. 
At  each  word,  at  each  step,  you  have  been  com- 
pelled, against  your  will,  to  yield  to  me,  who 
am  but  a  feeble  man.  Possibly  you  may  yet 
triumph  over  me  through  your  power,  which  I 

*  In  other  words,  they  look  on  me  as  an  imbecile. 


Labor.  8 1 

cannot  resist ;  but  you  can  never  destroy   my 
arguments,  or  prove  them  to  be  false. 

During  6884  years*  we  have  been  silent  be- 
fore you.  Now  we  have  spoken  a  word  that 
you  have  never  before  heard,  even  in  your 
dreams.  I  do  not  depend  on  you,  but  on  your 
conscience.     I  hope  it  will  come  to  my  aid. 

70.  There  are  in  the  world  many  inventions 
that  astonish  the  mind.  To  produce  one  ob- 
ject, of  however  little  importance,  machines 
have  been  invented.  A  labor  that  formerly  re- 
quired the  efforts  of  several  men,  is  now  done 
more  perfectly  by  a  machine  than  any  hand  of 
man  could  have  accomplished  it. 

But  the  labor  for  bread  has  been  done  by 
peasants  from  time  immemorial. 

71.  Would  it  not  be  easy  for  an  inventor  to 
say  these  simple  words,  "  Make  this  or  that," 
that  men  and  beasts  should  be  delivered  from  a 
wearisome  labor? 

No  !  He  would  not  come  near  the  labor  he 
abhors,  or  the  people  who  perform  it  He 
would  have  no  pity  for  the  poor  martyrs, — I 
mean  the  laborers, — nor  even  for  the  animals 
themselves,  although  he  will  several  times  in  a 
day  eat  this  bread — or  rather  the  blood  and 
tears  of  both  beasts  and  men. 

It  is  thus,  O  you  of  the  upper  class,  that  you 
offend  us,  and  at  the  same  time  you  disobey 
God's  command. 

*This  article  was  wrUten  in  1884. 


82  Labor. 

Does  not  your  conduct  clearly  show  the  ha- 
tred you  feel  towards  God  and  your  neighbor? 
Well,  what  answer  have  you  to  make  to  that? 
You  cannot  justify  yourself  before  the  peasant 
nor  have  you  any  excuse  to  offer. 

72.  Here  are  further  facts  to  show  that  you 
debase  and  trample  everything  under  your  feet. 
If  some  one  of  you  makes  a  discovery,  you 
honor  him  with  a  medal  bearing  this  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Honor  to  Labor  and  to  Art."  Has  any 
one  ever  been  rewarded  for  labor  and  art  in 
gaining  bread  ?  No.  And  if  one  were  offered, 
it  would  be  given  to  the  proprietors  who  culti- 
vate a  thousand  acres  of  ground  by  the  hands 
of  others,  but  who  would  not  themselves  come 
near  this  shameful  labor  nor  those  who  perform 
it.  Behold,  then,  those  who  have  always  re- 
ceived all  such  recompense,  and  always  will. 

73.  What  occurs  in  the  homes  of  the  poor? 
The  husband  and  wife  must  support  not  only 

themselves,  but  perhaps  a  dozen  children,  be- 
sides their  aged  parents.  And  yet  they  sell  you 
part  of  their  bread,  or  rather  they  give  it  to  you. 
But,  though  they  have  numbered  several 
millions  in  each  century,  has  even  one  of  them 
had  any  reward  whatever?  Never!  Far  from 
being  recompensed,  they  have  instead  received 
the  name  of  "  moujiks,"  which  signifies  a 
"beast."* 

*  According  to  Fr.  Michel,  this  meaning  of  the  word  mou- 
jik  was  given  to  the  French  word  msuchique  about  1815,  form- 
ing a  souveniir  of  fhe  Russian  peasants. 


Labor.  83 

Is  not  this  sufficient  for  you,  O  peasants  ? 

We  see,  then,  that  society  regards  labor  for 
bread  as  the  hardest  work  in  the  world.  Am  I 
not  right,  then,  in  proclaiming  that  these  men 
love  neither  God  nor  their  neighbor,  but  only 
themselves  ? 

It  is  painful  to  see  a  millionaire,  who  has  re- 
ceived several  medals  for  pure  trifles,  marching 
about  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and  seeming 
to  say,  "  Look  at  me !" 

And  what  is  his  merit  compared  to  ours  ?  It 
is  but  as  ashes  dispersed  by  the  wind. 

What  shall  we  do  ?  "  God  is  in  heaven,  and 
the  Czar  afar  off !"  If  I  may,  I  will  write  all 
my  griefs  in  a  memorial,  and  present  it  myself 
to  the  Czar,  and  having  gained  or  lost  every- 
thing, it  would  only  remain  for  us  to  live  or 
die.  I  have  taken  the  right  path.  I  will  con- 
tinue to  follow  it  till  I  die ;  for  I  have  no  inter- 
est in  deceiving  myself.  I  have  one  foot  on  the 
earth,  and  the  other  in  the  grave,  and  I  am  al- 
ready more  than  sixty  years  old. 

74.  When  they  read  my  writings  to  a  laborer 
who  does  not  know  a  from  b,  he  will  well  under- 
stand them.  My  words  will  sink  deeply  into 
his  heart.  How  he  will  thank  me  for  discover- 
ing the  law  of  salvation  !  How  he  will  apply 
himself  the  more  zealously  to  his  work! 

But  he  who  would  escape  labor  is  like  the 
dog  who  gnaws  the  stone  that  has  been  cast  at 
him.     He   will   criticise   these   reflections,  and 


84  Labor. 

hate  me  for  having  written  them  ;  and  he  will 
threaten  me  with  future  evil. 

Why  should  there  be  such  a  difference  be- 
tween these  two  men  ?  Because  the  laborer 
and  his  superiors  are  so  far  apart  that  their 
opinions  can  never  be  the  same. 

But  what  has  God  willed  to  do  with  me  ? 

He  has  given  ns  the  law  of  labor  for  bread. 
This  labor  is  not  difficult,  but  easy  and  useful ; 
it  is  not  long,  but  short  and  readily  understood. 

Then  why  are  we  not  grateful  to  him  for  it? 

And  what  happens  in  the  world?  One  half 
of  mankind  seeks  this  labor,  and  the  other  half 
avoids  it  as  though  it  were  a  mortal  poison, 
while  they  conceal  themselves  in  retired  places 
that  they  may  not  behold  it. 

But  who  are  these  who  thus  fly  and  hide 
themselves?  Are  they  ignorant?  No;  they 
are  the  most  educated  and  intelligent  of  men ! 
Perhaps  they  do  not  believe  in  God  ?  No  ;  they 
are  true  believers. 

75.  Your  principal  objection  to  labor  for 
bread  is  this:  Whatever  may  be  a  man's  occu- 
pation or  mode  of  work,  he  obeys  the  command- 
ment, "  Thou  shalt  knead  thy  bread  in  the  sweat 
of  thy  face."  This  explanation  cannot  please 
God  nor  man. 

It  has  been  said,  "  Cursed  is  the  ground  for 
thy  sake."  Does  this  allude  to  your  occupa- 
tions ?     No. 

And  again  :  "  In  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all 
the  days  of  thy  life."     Here  labor  for  bread  is 


Labor.  8$*  ' 

less  precisely  designated.  And  ag-ain :  "  Thorns 
also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee." 
Does  this  allude  to  your  constant  occupations? 

And  still  further :  "  Thou  shalt  eat  the  herb 
of  the  field."  Is  there  in  this  an  allusion  to  your 
occupations?     No. 

And,  finally :  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread :  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust 
shalt  thou  return." 

Well,  the  wise  men  find  still  a  loophole ;  they 
say,  all  this  applies  to  the  pen  as  well  as  to  the 
plough,  and  they  give  solid  reasons  for  saying 
so. 

^6.  But  is  it  possible  that  God  gave  only  to  us 
the  painful  obligation  of  laboring  in  the  ground, 
while  he  permits  you  to  evade  it  by  means  of 
your  money?  v. 

With  me,  says  the  rich  man,  money  labors  for\ 
bread.  | 

It  is  false !     Money  has  not  sinned    against  \ 
God.     Nor   was   the   commandment   set   forth  | 
against  money.     Besides  that,  money  does  not  ■■ 
eat  bread  ;  it  is  not,  then,  obliged  to  labor  for  it.  < 
How,  then,  can  you  say.  With  me,  money  labors 
for  bread  ?     Do  you  find  yourself  entirely  just 
before   God,  and   needing   no   commandment? 
But  were  you  more  holy  than  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
you  do  not  the  less  eat  bread  labored  for  by 
another. 

In  truth,  you  cannot  escape  alive  out  of  the 
hands  of  an  adversary  like  me. 

)Here  is  another  excuse  that  you  give.     If  all 


86  Labor. 

the  world  were  occupied  in  agriculture,  the  fac- 
tories and  work-shops  must  stop,  and  the  uni- 
verse would  perish.— Nothing-  could  be  more 
false.  The  universe  need  not  perish  for  that. 
There  are  eighty  festivals  in  the  year,  on  which 
we  are  free  from  all  labor,  and  men  will  spend 
eighty  more  in  idleness.  Do  you  think  because 
a  man  and  his  wife  shall  labor  in  a  piece  of  ground 
during  thirty  days,  at  different  periods  of  the 
year,  that  the  universe  will  perish  ? 

In  all  large  cities,  as  in  Moscow,  where  there 
is  a  great  number  of  factories  and  workshops, 
there  are  about  a  million  inhabitants.  Where 
would  you  find  land  enough  if  all  the  world 
undertook  agriculture?  This  is  but  another 
excuse  to  avoid  labor. 

I  reply  to  this  objection  that  the  manufac- 
turers and  work-people  came  of  their  own  choice 
to  the  cities.  But  might  not  the  factories  be 
built  in  the  midst  of  the  country,  so  that  the 
workmen  could  by  turns  labor  for  bread  and  in 
the  factories?  That  could  easily  be  arranged, 
if  you  desire  to  help  the  lower  classes.  But  you 
only  care  to  be  concerned  for  your  equals. 

Do  you  refuse  to  labor  for  bread  because,  if 
all  the  world  should  be  so  occupied,  there  would 
not  be  enough  land  ?  With  more  reasonableness, 
if  you  decided  to  labor,  you  would  cultivate 
alone  the  whole  earth  ! 

For  my  part,  I  now  cultivate  a  bit  of  ground; 
but  if  this  revolution  takes  place,  I  must  divide 
it  with  another.     You,  my  friend,  may  work  by 


Labor.  87 

my  side,  with  your  white  hands,  in  frost  or  heat, 
in  storms  and  snow,  when  you  will  tremble  as 
with  fever,  and  your  hands  will  become  like 
spiders'  feet. 

Is  it  right  that  we  alone  shall  endure  these 
evils? 

79.  If  you  are  so  convinced  that  we  eat  the 
bread  which  you  have  gained  by  your  labor, 
why  do  you  sell  it  to  us? — We  do  not  compel 
you  to  do  so.  You  beg  us  to  buy  it.  Is  it,  then, 
our  fault? 

If  all  laborers  understood  the  primitive  law, 
they  would  not  sell  their  bread,  nor  even  give 
it  away,  except  in  certain  admissible  cases. — 
Where,  then,  would  they  get  money  ? — They 
would  know  how  to  find  it. 

The  idle  man,  like  a  door  on  its  hinge,  passes 
all  his  life  lying  on  his  bed.  He  has  never  seen 
how  labor  for  bread  is  done.  Thus  he  will 
scarcely  have  read  ten  articles  in  my  book  than 
he  will  throw  it  aside,  saying,  '■'It  is  vitriol T 
This  verdict  appears  to  me  profound  and  well 
merited. 

It  is  not  he  who  has  found  this  word,  but 
Providence  has  put  it  in  his  mouth,  because  to 
him  the  bread  of  his  own  labor  would  be  as 
vitriol,  while  that  gained  by  another's  labor  is 
sweeter  than  honey. 

Do  you  see,  my  readers,  how'  deceit  loves 
itself?  And  if  it  did  not  seem  lovely  to  itself, 
to  whom  could  it  appear  agreeable  or  virtuous  ? 


88  Labor. 

80.  I  have  asked  myself,  why  do  they  give 
deceit  the  name  of  deceit? 

They  might  have  given  it  a  better  name,  be- 
cause it  is  more  veracious  than  even  truth. 
It  exposes  and  betrays  itself. 

It  has  been  said:  "  The  voice  of  thy  brother's 
blood  crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground."  Thus 
God  spoke  to  Cain,  that  is,  to  the  voice  of  deceit. 
If  it  cries  to  God,  why  is  it  silent  to  all  the 
world  ?  "  And  God  set  a  mark  upon  Cain,"  the 
token  of  the  evil  doer.  Does  he  not  to-day 
mark  with  this  token  all  wicked  ones,  and  with 
them  the  sluggard  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  he 
to  whom  I  owe  an  eternal  gratitude  ? 

81.  You  do  not  answer.  Do  you,  then,  ap- 
prove of  what  I  have  said  ?  You  might,  how- 
ever, make  this  answer,  which  is  the  objection 
you  offer  in  reality  against  labor  for  bread : 
"  I  cannot  do  several  things  at  once.  If  I  am 
occupied  in  agriculture,  I  should  have  no  time 
for  other  things." 

But,  I  reply  in  turn :  "  I  have,  besides  labor- 
ing for  bread,  many  others  things  to  do.  How 
do  I,  who  am  an  ignorant  peasant,  bring  them 
all  to  completion  ?  If  I  were  as  educated  and 
intelligent  as  you,  I  would  occupy  myself  with 
many  thousand  affairs.  Why,  then,  with  your 
infinite  spirit,  can  3-ou  attend  to  only  one  ? 

82.  When  you  fly  from  the  labor  for  bread, 
or  from  the  conscience  which  torments  you, 
you  say :  "  If  we  all  labor  for  bread,  where  will 
the  poor  get  their  money,  for  they  live  by  their 


Labor.  89 

labor  ?  They  supply  us  with  bread,  and  in 
return  we  give  them  money;  and  thus  the  pea- 
sants live  by  us,  and  we  by  them;  one  hand 
washes  the  other,  and  so  both  are  clean." 

No,  your  argument  does  not  disconcert  us. 
We  are  not  as  stupid  as  you  believe,  and  you 
yourselves  are  not  as  intelligent  as  you  think. 
Do  not  forget  that  I  who  speak  am  standing 
at  the  threshold  of  your  palace  (like  Lazarus). 

Half  the  people  living  do  not  labor  for  bread  ; 
the  other  half,  laboring  for  and  not  selling  it, 
can  scarce  support  themselves.  But  why  should 
these  last  not  know  where  to  find  money,  if 
all  the  world  labored  for  bread  ? 

Far  from  being  useful,  the  sale  of  bread  isi 
hurtful.     This  present  year  the  harvest  is  good,! 
and  the  laborer  sells  his  wheat  to  the  rich  man 
for   thirty   kopecks   the    measure.      He   thinks 
what  he  has  left  will  suffice  for  his  wants.     But 
suppose  that,  next  year,  the   harvest  shall  be 
bad,  and  we  have  a  famine  :  the  laborer  will  buy  I 
his  wheat  from  the  same  rich  man  for  a  rouble  \ 
and  fifty  kopecks  the  measure  ;and  if  he  have  not 
enough  money    to  pay   for  it,  he    will  sell  his 
beasts  at  half  price.     And  while  he  has  not  sup- 
plied his  wants,  he    has  sold  his  wheat,  is    de- 
prived of  his  cattle,  and  will  become  a  beggar. 
Thus  many  are  ruined  by  selling  their  wheat. 
Then  how  can  you  say  that  the  peasants  cannot 
live  without  selling  their  wheat,  when  by  doing 
so  they  die  of  hunger  ?     The  true  conclusion  is 
that  it  is  you,  not  we,  who  live  on  others. 


90  Labor. 

Cultivate,  then,  according  to  the  command 
ment,  a  piece  of  ground,  and  all  will  belong  to 
you  that  you  need. 

83.  Sometimes  I  have  not  a  single  kopeck  for 
one  or  perhaps  two  months.  However,  when 
I  am  fatigued  with  my  day's  work,  I  make 
tiira.'^  I  eat  well — the  tura  seems  to  me  better 
than  all  your  dainty  dishes  are  to  you;  and  I 
return  to  my  work  singing. 

But  you,  if  you  were  for  two  months  without 
my  bread,  what  song  would  you  sing? 

Now  consider  well  which  of  us  two  lives  at 
the  expense  of  the  other,  .  Is  it  you  or  I  ?  It  is 
you. 

Then  why  do  you  not  place  yourself  among 
my  friends?  Which  of  us  should  occupy  the 
first  place  at  the  table  ?  It  is  surely  I.  But 
why  have  you  taken  it  ?  Who  has  given  it  to 
you,  or  accorded  you  this  honor? 

Defend  yourself  by  valid  excuses,  or  else  do 
not  eat  our  bread.  Or,  if  you  will,  cultivate 
with  your  own  hands  a  piece  of  ground,  and 
then  take  your  place  at  the  table.  Otherwise, 
be  off  with  you  ! 

84.  I  think  your  reply  would  be  like  this 
which  the  rich  man  made  to  me :  I  would  labor, 
but  I  know  not  how.  Once  in  my  life  I  took 
up  a  scythe ;  I  raised  it  in  the  air  with  all  my 
force,  and  it  but  glanced  over  the  grass.  Then 
I  used  more  strength,  and  half  buried  it  in  the 
ground.     Next  I  took  a  reaping-hook,  and  after 

*  Bread  crumbled  and  soaked  in  kvass. 


Labor.  91 

great  efforts  I  had  gathered  half  a  sheaf,  when 
I  cut  my  hand.  This  is  what  happened  to  me 
one  day  that  I  was  in  the  fields.  And  if  I 
should  take  seriously  to  work,  all  my  com- 
panions would  laugh  in  beholding  such  an 
astonishing  spectacle. 

But  how  do  you  know  how  to  eat?  I  asked 
him.  When  you  were  only  two  years  old  you 
could  eat,  but  now,  though  already  old,  you  do 
not  know  how  to  work !  Is  this  for  want  of 
strength,  or  because  you  do  not  wish  to  know  ? 

85.  The  rich  man  has  also  made  me  the  fol- 
lowing excuses :  ist.  I  would  labor  for  bread, 
according  to  the  commandment,  but  I  am 
ashamed  to  do  so;  people  would  point  their 
fingers  at  me.  2d.  Is  it  proper  for  a  rich  man 
like  me  to  labor  with  the  poor  ?  3d.  All  in- 
telligent and  well-educated  men  would  exclude 
me  from  their  society.  4th.  In  laboring  for 
bread,  I  would  earn  but  30  kopecks  a  day, 
while  at  home,  with  my  pen,  I  can  earn  10 
roubles.  Behold  the  reasoning  by  which  the 
educated  classes  reject  this  labor  in  which  they 
can  see  only  loss  and  humiliation  ! 

86.  But,  they  add,  are  we  for  that  reason 
culpable  in  God's  eyes.?  No  ;  for  Jesus  Christ, 
when  dying  for  us,  exhorted  us  not  to  commit 
sin,  and  not  to  fulfil  this  commandment,  that  is, 
not  to  labor  for  bread,  in  saying :  "  Behold  the 
fowls  of  the  air,"  etc.  Therefore  we  do  not, 
and  never  will,  labor  for  bread. 

87.  But  if  you   are  thus   redeemed,  I  repl}-, 


92  Labor. 

why,  then,  do  you  eat  the  product  of  another's 
labor?  Can  it  be,  that  he  has  redeemed  )^ou, 
and  not  us?  If  he  had  thus  redeemed  the  whole 
human  race,  he  should  have  arranged  that  wheat 
would  be  produced  already  kneaded  into  bread 
and  baked  to  each  one's  taste,  or  he  should 
have  sent  us  manna  from  heaven,  as  was  done 
to  the  Israelites  in  the  Wilderness. 

But  we  see  clearly  that  he  did  not  redeem 
men  either  from  sin  or  from  labor  for  bread. 
Each  of  us  must  redeem  himself  by  good  works, 
and  not  rely  only  on  the  merits  even  of  Christ. 

88.  We  sin,  we  disobey  the  divine  precepts, 
and  we  incur  all  the  maledictions  pronounced 
in  Deuteronomy.  It  is  not  so,  according  to 
you.  Jesus  Christ,  you  would  say,  takes  on 
himself  our  sins,  our  impieties,  and  our  maledic- 
tions. What  a  fine  invention !  and  how  exact 
your  calculation  is !  No ;  each  one  must  re- 
deem himself  by  obeying  the  primitive  com- 
mand, "  Eat  the  bread  of  thy  labor."  There  is 
no  greater  virtue ;  and  to  fail  in  it  is  the  most 
dangerous  of  crimes. 

89.  If  you  are  rich,  live  in  luxury  as  much 
as  you  can,  be  as  haughty  as  3'ou  will,  and  aug- 
ment your  dainty  dishes,  but  instead  of  evading 
labor  for  bread,  hasten  to  accomplish  it. 

90.  There  is  always  a  great  enmity  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor.  But  when  they  are  to- 
gether, they  dissimulate.  Who  has  created  this 
hatred — the  rich  or  the  poor?  Says  Sirach  : 
"  What  agreement  is  there  between  the  hyena 


Labor.  93 

and  the  dog  ?  And  what  peace  between  the 
rich  and  the  poor? 

*' As  the  proud  hate  humility,  so  doth  the  rich 
abhor  the  poor."     (Ecclesiasticus  xiii.  18-20.) 

Whose  is  the  fault?  It  is  the  rich  man's,  not 
the  poor  laborer's. 

I  ask  you  again,  and  still  more  loudly,  not 
to  forget  that  I  who  stand  on  the  threshold 
of  the  rich  man's  palace,  like  Lazarus,  address 
myself,  in  the  name  of  all  laborers,  to  the  higher 
classes,  and  not  only  to  the  reader. 

91.  They  say :  We  accomplish  ten  times 
more  work  than  the  laborer.  Can  we,  then,  be 
regarded  as  sluggards  ? 

On  festivals  the  laborer  works,  while  the  rich 
man  rests  on  his  couch,  serving  neither  himself, 
his  neighbor,  nor  God.  They  say  then,  the 
idle  man  does  his  duty,  while  the  laborer  com- 
mits a  crime,  in  breaking  the  fourth  command- 
ment. 

Is  not  that  the  position  we  occupy  ? 

During  330  days  in  the  year  do  what  you 
will;  occupy  yourself  as  it  shall  please  you  ;  but 
during  35  days,  at  different  times  in  the  year, 
every  man  should  labor  for  bread. 

92.  But  why  do  I  speak  at  such  length,  when 
a  few  words  ought  to  suffice  ?  It  is  because  I 
must  oppose  a  solid  barrier  to  the  subterfuges 
behind  which  you  entrench  yourselves  ;  and  for 
that,  I  must  reply  fully  to  your  many  argu- 
ments. 

Can  it  be  because  there  is  neither  a  past  nor 


94  Labor. 

a  future  for  God,  but  all  is  to  him  as  the  present, 
that  he  has  not  comprehended  that  if  man 
must  always  eat,  he  must  also  always  labor? 
If  he  inflicted  on  you  a  penance  for  your  sins, 
and  said,  Take  a  stone  of  a  hundred  pounds 
weight  and  carry  it,  you  would  reply:  I  can- 
not do  it,  Lord,  for  you  have  not  given  me 
strength  sufficient.  Or  if  he  said,  Fly  in  the  air 
like  a  bird,  you  would  answer:  You  have  not 
given  me  wings,  and  it  is  impossible  to  obey 
your  command.  Such  excuses  would  be  legiti- 
mate. 

But  why  can  you  not  labor  for  bread  ?  In 
truth,  you  will  reply,  it  is  because  of  my  con- 
dition in  life.  I  have  white  and  delicate  hands, 
and  the  ears  of  corn  will  scratch  my  skin. 

94.  Again,  you  will  evade  labor  for  bread 
because  you  say  that  in  occupying  yourself  in 
any  work,  you  obey  the  commandment,  "In  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shaft  thou  knead  bread." 

One  will  say  :  "  I  have  written,  to  -  day,  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-one  lines ;  thus  I  have  eaten 
my  bread  in  the  sweat  of  my  face."  Another 
says :  "  I  have,  to-day,  given  my  orders  to  my 
people,  I  have  seen  that  they  labored  well  for 
me ;  thus  have  I  eaten  my  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
my  face."  A  third  says :  "  I  have,  to-day,  been 
driven  about  the  city  in  a  rich  carriage ;  I  have 
thus  eaten  my  bread  in  the  sweat  of  my  face." 
A  fourth  says:  "I  have,  to-day,  sold  damaged 
merchandise  for  good,  and   I   have  defrauded 


Labor.  95 

inexperienced  men :  I  eat  my  bread  in  the  sweat 
of  my  face." 

And  the  thief  says  in  his  turn : 

"I  have  not  slept  during  the  night,  I  have 
labored  with  my  hands:  I  eat  my  bread,  more 
truly  than  you,  in  the  sweat  of  my  face." 

If  it  is  not  by  truth,  it  is  by  cunning  and 
eloquence  that  you  gain  your  cause,  as  Kriloff 
has  said.*  "  All  the  animals  who  are  provided 
with  claws  and  teeth  are  innocent,  they  are  al- 

*  Kriloff  (Ivan  Andreiewitch),  the  Russian  fabulist,  was  born 
in  a  small  village  of  Orenburg  in  1768,  and  died  at  St.  Peters- 
burg in  1864.  Attracted  by  the  theatre,  he  composed  in  early- 
youth  a  farce  called  "The  Coffee-pot"  (1783),  and  several 
comedies  and  tragedies,  of  v?hich  the  principal  ones  are  Cleo- 
patra and  Philomela. 

But  this  was  not  his  real  vocation.  In  1808,  by  the  advice 
of  one  of  his  friends,  who  foresaw  his  true  talent,  he  translated 
two  of  La  Fontaine's  fables,  The  Maid  and  The  Oak  and  the 
Reed.  His  translation  was  striking  in  its  originality  and  its 
picturesque  character. 

Published  in  the  Spectator  cf  Moscow,  they  obtained  a  great 
success.  Kriloff  then  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  com- 
position of  fables,  and  became  the  La  Fontaine  of  Russia. 

Nevertheless,  the  pen  of  Kriloff  gave  all  subjects  a  Russian 
aspect.  He  distinguished  himself  from  La  Fontaine  and 
Lessing  by  his  coarse  pleasantry  and  cynical  wit,  which  are 
qualities  that  are  popular  in  Moscow. 

His  Fables  form  a  considerable  collection  (St.  Petersburg, 
1847,  3  vols,  in  8vo).  Count  Orloff  published  in  Paris,  in 
1825,  Russian  Fables  taken  from  M.  Kriloff's  Collection,  and  imi- 
tated in  French  and  Italian  Verse  by  several  Authors  (2  vols,  in 
8vo).  M.  A.  Baugeault  has  translated  in  verse  Kriloff's  prin- 
cipal fables  (Paris,  1852,  8vo).  We  must  also  mention  the 
metrical  version  of  Charles  Parfait  (Plon,  1867.)  The  fable  re- 
ferred to  by  Bondareff  is  an  imitation  of  The  Animals  Sick  of 
the  Plague,  by  La  Fontaine. 


96  Labor. 

most  holy;  but  they  accuse  the  timid  ox;  the 
tigers  and  wolves  cry  out  against  him  ;  and  they 
at  once  strangle  and  devour  him." 

It  seems  to  me  that  Kriloff  by  the  animals, 
meant  the  laborers,  and  intended  the  timid  ox 
to  personify  the  rich  man.  What  do  you  think 
about  it,  reader  ? 

95.  You  who,  here  in  Russia,  eat  the  bread 
produced  by  our  labor  number  about  thirty 
millions,  including  Jews  and  Gipsies.  How 
can  we  support  you  all,  supplying  you  with  fine 
clothes,  good  beds,  and  warm  covei-ing? 

It  is  for  you  that  we  must  labor  day  and  night, 
without  rest,  and  endure  great  privations. 

Is  it  not  unjust?  Is  it  not  criminal  on  3'our 
part  ? 

96.  And  as  though  you  had  not  heard  what  I 
have  been  saying,  you  will  ask:  Of  what  injus- 
tice are  you  the  victims,  and  what  crime  have 
we  committed?  We  do  not  take  your  bread 
for  nothing,  but  we  buy  it  with  the  money  we 
have  earned  by  our  own  work. 

And  where  did  )'Ou  get  this  money? 

It  was  earned  by  working  according  to  the 
commandment. 

But  with  us  our  money  does  not  accrue  from 
our  work.  Money  is  not  given  for  nothing;  it 
must  be  earned  by  the  body,  by  flesh  and  bones. 
And  then,  can  you  atone  for  sin  with  money  ? 
Can  you  buy  the  law  of  God  with  money  ? 

Your  excuse  condemns  you  still  further.  You 
have  the  right  to  buy   what  you  please  with 


Labor.  97 

money,   but  bread   cannot   be   bought  at  any 
price. 

97.  Do  you  think  you  are  saved  by  the  con- 
secrated wafer  which  you  receive  in  church 
from  the  hands  of  the  priest?  But,  you  reply, 
it  is  not  the  wafer  that  saves  me,  it  is  my  faith 
in  Christ,  whom  I  receive  under  the  symbol  of 
the  wafer.  No!  faith  without  works,  that  is  to 
say,  without  the  commandment,  is  dead.  You  go 
to  church,  having  one  sin,  and  you  return  with 
two,  because  you  have  eaten  the  bread  of  an- 
other's labor.  And  where,  do  you  ask?  In 
church. 

98.  Not  only,  O  ye  rich,  do  you  now  live  by 
the  labor  of  others,  but  you  hope  in  the  future  1 
life  to  obtain  by  the  merits  of  another,  who  is 
Christ,  eternal  happiness.  Thus  you  believe 
you  have  no  duty  to  fulfil,  and  that  you  may 
enjoy  at  ease  all  the  comforts  of  this  world. 
You  walk  on  a  wide  and  spacious  path,  but 
whither  will  it  lead  you  ?   You  know  as  well  as  I. 

99.  Often  among  you  are  found  men  who, 
when  fortune  deserts  them  and  they  lose  all 
their  wealth,  being  forced  by  circumstances  to 
labor  for  their  own  bread,  fall  into  despair,  and 
become  thieves  and  drunkards,  and  undertake 
all  sorts  of  criminal  enterprises.  And  usually 
they  die  a  violent  death,  to  escape  labor  for 
bread.  But  revive  this  commandment,  whose 
life  does  not  appear  among  you  till  you  die, and 
the  millionaire,  finding  himself  in  the  same  con- 


98  Labor. 

dition  with  us,  will  no  longer  seek  to  avoid  this 
labor,  but  will  turn  to  it  eagerly. 

100.  Let  us  speak  now,  reader,  of  these  three 
classes  of  men:  the  Jew,  the  Gipsy,  and  the 
educated  European,  who,  like  the  others,  eats 
the  bread  of  another's  labor.  Which  is  most  dis- 
pleasing to  God  and  man  ? 

It  is  certainly  the  European,  for  we  cannot 
consider  the  Gipsy,  who  is  but  a  half-savage. 
As  for  the  Jew,  he  was  once  master  of  the 
world,  and  compelled  every  one  to  labor  for 
him  ;  but  this  is  no  longer  so.  To-day  the  Jew 
has  gone  from  the  head  to  the  foot,  and  the 
European  from  the  foot  to  the  head,  and,  like 
the  first  mentioned,  he  also  eats  the  bread  of 
another's  labor. 

1  ask,  which  of  these  three  is  most  displeasing 
to  God  and  man  ? 

loi.  I  know  the  reader  will  say:  Can  I  com- 
pare myself  to  a  Jew  or  a  Gipsy  ?  I  who  live 
by  the  truth,  and  they  by  falsehood  and  deceit  ? — 
Yes,  if  you  have  the  body  of  an  angel  and  not 
that  of  a  man.  But  when  you  eat  the  bread  of 
another's  labor,  there  is  not  in  this  food  a  particle 
of  truth.  It  is  but  two  hours  since  you  have 
eaten,  and  you  are  thinking  of  again  stretching 
out  your  hand  towards  the  tree  of  life,  to  take 
the  forbidden  bread.  How  can  you,  then,  boast 
that  you  live  by  the  truth? 

102.  From  all  the  preceding  arguments,  we 
may  conclude  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  world 
more  evil  and  infamous  than  to  eat  the  bread  of 


Labor.  99 

another's  labor.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
nothing  more  healthful  and  sacred  than  to  eat 
the  bread  of  one's  own  labor.  I  do  not  say  this 
as  a  supposition,  but  in  accord  with  God's 
fundamental  law,  with  which  our  natural  law 
also  agrees. 

103.  I  have  said  that,  according  to  you,  an 
idle  and  luxurious  life  is  conformable  to  the 
laws  of  salvation.  I  did  not  at  the  moment  an- 
swer this  sufBciently.  But  I  will  now  do  so  in 
a  peremptory  manner.  (I  do  not  speak  of  those 
who  live  from  day  to  day,  from  hand  to  mouth.) 

To  gain  eternal  happiness,  the  servants  of  God 
retire  to  monasteries,  deserts,  mountains,  and 
isles,  where  they  lead  a  wandering  life. 

What  do  these  men,  who  trample  under  foot 
God's  law  by  eating  the  bread  of  other  men's 
labor,  seek  in  these  places  ? 

Can  they  not  be  virtuous  while  accomplishing 
the  labor  God  has  blessed  ? 

104.  When  the  harvest  is  bad,  the  poor  man 
is  sorrowful;  but  the  rich  man  is  content,  be- 
cause, during  a  famine,  he  increases  his  riches. 
Thus  he  will  call  a  famine  a  good  harvest, 
while  it  is  the  chastisement  of  God.  And 
if  he  joins  in  the  prayers  of  the  poor,  do  not 
believe  him,  for  he  is  a  hypocrite. 

105.  And  you  say  the  two  classes  are  not  at 
enmity  with  each  other  !  The  rich  man  will  at 
once  make  this  excuse:  What  is  my  wcaltii  ? 
There  are  many  who  are  a  hundred  times  richer 


lOO  Labor. 

than  I ;  it  is  to  them  and  not  to  me  that  3'ou 
should  attribute  the  evils  of  which  you  speak. 

To  that  I  reply  :  We  must  not  measure  wealth 
by  figures,  but  b}^  the  number  of  peasants  who 
surround  the  rich  man ;  for,  in  the  country,  those 
who  have  each  five  thousand  roubles  are  richer 
than  the  millionaire  of  Moscow. 

If  )'ou  readers  of  the  city  could  see  the  miser- 
ies that  are  inflicted  on  the  poor  by  the  rich  in 
the  country,  you  would  take  my  arguments 
into  consideration.  Else  you  could  never  be- 
lieve me. 

106.  The  poor  man,  the  laborer,  studies  day 
and  night,  during  all  his  life,  for  better  ways  to 
prepare  the  earth  for  wheat,  or  for  duly  caring 
for  his  implements  and  his  cattle.  He  brings 
up  his  sons  from  infancy  to  the  same  labors. 
His  efforts  are  crowned  with  success.  And  on 
the  other  side  the  rich  man  ponders  day  and 
night  how  to  buy  from  the  poor  man  at  half 
price  and  to  sell  to  him  again  at  double  rates, 
and  he  accustoms  his  sons  from  infancy  to  these 
speculations. 

The  first  and  last  of  God's  laws  concern  la- 
bor, and  the  principal  one  is  that  of  labor  for 
bread ;  but  educated  and  intelligent  people 
evade  this  labor,  and  live  like  pomestchiks,  with 
their  hands  in  their  pockets.  They  have  im- 
posed all  labor  upon  the  poor  and  weak,  but 
these,  in  retaliation,  do  not  sleep  or  lose  their 
presence  of  mind  ;  they  steal,  kill,  burn,  and  de- 
fraud each  other,  v 


Labvr.  ID  I 

It  is  well.  As  says  the  proverb,  the  master  is 
for  his  bread  (that  is,  his  own  interests),  and  the 
workman  is  not  less  cunning  than  his  master  ; 
for,  if  intelligent  people  put  the  candle  under  a 
bushel,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  watch 
it.     Act,  then,  as  you  can,  O  laborer ! 

107.  Nevertheless,  the  poor  man  is  very  hum- 
ble before  thee,  O  rich  man  !  And  if  thou  treat- 
est  him  with  hypocrisy,  he  will  fall  alive  into 
thy  hands. 

Thus  the  poor  man  goes  in  his  poverty  to  the 
rich  man's  house,  and  returns  half  naked.  Sirach 
says  with  reason:  "Hunting  lions  is  like  hunt- 
ing savages  in  the  desert ;  so  the  poor  are  the 
prey  of  the  rich."  * 

This  is  what  often  happens  in  a  poor  country 
where  a  single  rich  man  is  settled.  The  poor 
must  sell  to  him,  and  must  also  buy  of  him. 

And  the  rich  man  still  says:  I  make  fair  and 
honest  bargains.  I  buy  and  sell  loyally.  Every 
bargain  has  an  amiable  intent.  Would  you  sell 
to  me,  or  would  you  buy  ?  There  is  no  sin  in 
commerce.  I  do  not  sell  by  false  weights  or 
measures  ;  I  do  not  deceive  in  my  accounts.  In 
a  word,  it  is  just  to  say  that,  according  to  the 
commandment,  I  eat  my  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
my  face. 

And  now,  to  discuss  this  with  him  !         ' .    :  v 

All  that  he  has  said  is  injurious  to  us.  Hd^ 
does  not  understand   the  meaning  of  the  com- 

*  "  As  the  wild  ass  is  the  lion's  prey  in  the  .wilderness  :  so 
the  rich  eat  up  the  poor."     (Ecclesiasticus,  xiii.  23.) 


IG2  Labor. 

mandment,  although  his  conscience  is  beginning 
to  awaken. 

109.  The  rich  also  present  this  excuse  :  I  give 
men  money  that  they  may  work  for  me.  It 
would  be  to  my  interest  not  to  give  them  work, 
but  still  I  do  it.  And  I  hope  to  be  rewarded  by 
God  for  my  good  work.  And  then  without  me, 
where  would  they  get  money  for  their  neces- 
sities ? 

I  reply  :  You  should  employ  in  your  good 
works  treasures  gained  by  your  own  labor,  fol- 
lowing the  commandment  which  I  have  given, 
that  is  to  say,  wash  you  with  clean  water,  and 
not  with  that  which  is  impure.  But  you  pretend 
to  help  men  with  the  product  of  their  labor! 
Who,  then,  has  earned  the  money  that  you  give 
them  ?  Is  it  your  money  ?  No,  it  belongs  to  the 
laborers.     Then  what  reward  can  you  look  for? 

1 10.  It  is  said  in  the  Law :  "  As  is  the  laborer, 
so  is  the  work  ;  as  is  the  ground,  so  are  the  fruits." 
In  other  words,  if  we  are  but  ignorant  peasants 
and  useless  portions  of  society,  why  do  you  love 
our  work,  that  is,  our  bread?  Believe  me, 
reader,  if  I  were  as  educated  and  intelligent  as 
you  are,  I  would  never  eat  bread  at  all,  but  only 
silver  or  gold. 

111.  They  will  tell  you:  I  esteem  with  my 
tvhole  heart  all  laborers,  and  I  also  love  labor 
for  bread,  and  I  detest  and  scorn  all  sluggards. 
To  this  1  reply,  in  the  words  of  the  proverb  :  "  I 
hear  the  voice  of  Jacob,  but  it  is  Esau  that  draws 
near  to  me." 


Labor.  103 

112.  We  ought  not  to  give  away  a  single  ear 
of  wiieat. — Why  is  that?  asks  the  reader.  Be- 
cause one  half  of  the  world  will  not  come  near 
to  cultivate  the  earth,  and  the  other  half  work 
against  their  will,  because  they  do  not  know 
where  to  take  refuge,  since  all  the  corners 
of  the  earth  are  filled  with  sluggards.  Where 
three  or  four  men  would  suffice,  ten  or  a  dozen 
arrive  ;  and  not  having  eaten  for  two  or  three 
days,  they  crowd  one  upon  another.  If  one  were 
driven  away,  he  would  become  one  of  the  most 
terrible  and  criminal  of  brigands. 

113.  I  repeat,  we  should  not  give  away  one 
ear  of  wheat.  We  except  only  women  who 
fulfil  exactly  the  penance  God  gave  to  them, 
and  which  we  have  cited ;  the  aged,  who  labored 
formerly,  but  now  have  lost  their  strength. ;  the 
infirm  ;  and  the  children,  whose  day  of  labor  is. 
yet  to  come.  O  Heaven!  hear  my  prayer! 
Grant  us  for  them  an  abundance  of  the  fruits  of 
the  earth. 

114.  "Do  unto  others  as  you  would  they 
should  do  unto  you."  This  is  the  law. — Very 
good  ;  for  my  part,  I  do  not  think  there  are  any 
other  virtues. — But,  I  ask  you,  as  you  would 
not  wish  others  to  eat  the  bread  of  3'our  labors, 
why  do  you  eat  the  bread  of  theirs?  In  other 
words,  why  do  you  do  to  others  what  you 
would  not  wish  they  should  do  to  you? 

I  bu}'  my  bread  with  money. 

Well,  let  us  discuss  that.     You  have  always 


I04  Labor. 

the  same  song  on  your  lips,  and  it  sets  my  teeth 
on  edge. 

115.  Have  I  not  said  openly  that  bread  cannot 
be  bought  at  any  price,  that  it  can  only  be  bought 
with  labor,  because  its  value  cannot  be  fixed  by 
human  reason  ?  In  certain  cases  it  can  be  given 
and  received  gratis.  But  you  have  arrived  at 
such  a  result  that  in  certain  cities  of  Russia  a 
loaf  of  bread  costs  no  more  than  a  piece  of  dried 
muck. 

What  ignominy  !  I  shudder  at  the  remem- 
brance of  this  injury  that  we  have  received. 

But  for  you,  rich  men,  there  is  no  better 
bargain  than  bread.  All  is  for  the  best.  This 
is  what  you  call  law. 

1 16  Ah,  have  pity  on  us,  O  you  of  the  upper 
classes!  Do  not  destroy  my  words!  If  they 
are  illegal,  let  my  body  perish,  but  let  my  work 
rest  among  the  archives  where  you  preserve 
what  is  most  important  to  the  State.  Among 
the  future  generations  one  man  may  be  found 
sufficiently  just  to  publish  it,  I  would  perish 
gladly,  if  onlv  my  work  ma}^  give  to  the  millions 
of  laborers  who  will  come  after  me  one  great 
joy,  and  that  they  may  obtain  from  it  some 
solace  in  their  labors ! 

117.  Notwithstanding  your  close  studying 
from  infancy  to  extreme  old  age,  consider  what 
is  the  distance  that  separates  you  from  the  igno- 
rant laborer:  it  is  but  one  step  only!  A  man 
of  elevated  position,  a  functionary  of  but  one 
degree  inferior  to  yourself,  and  a  man  of  our 


Labor.  105 

class,  the  starchina  (the  magistrate  of  a  canton), 
will  meet  to  make  an  inquiry  in  view  of  a  pro- 
posed lawsuit.  The  canton  gives  the  functionary 
some  cases  of  wine,  and  he  consents  to  arrange 
matters.  He  changes  the  statement  of  facts, 
and  he  presents  a  false  report  to  his  chief,  who 
does  not  observe  anything  irregular  in  it,  and 
signs  it.  Thus  the  innocent  become  guilty,  and 
the  guilty  innocent;  and  this  is  through  the 
complicity  of  the  superior  with  the  inferior. 

118.  But  why  have  they  deceived  him?  Not 
only  because  he  does  not  labor  himself,  but 
because  he  knows  nothing  of  how  labor  for 
bread  is  accomplished.  If  he  had  joined  to  his 
science  this  labor  for  bread,  his  intelligence 
would  be  so  enlightened  that  he  could  not  be 
deceived.  See  how  many  faults  and  errors  are 
engendered  by  idleness! 

1 19.  Behold  how  the  good  writers  act :  if 
they  must  criticise  a  superior,  they  soften  their 
terms,  and  soothe  him,  as  in  Kriloff's  fable  of  the 
geese.  "  It  would  be  easy,"  he  says,  "  to  make 
this  fable  still  more  intelligible  ;  but  I  am  afraid 
of  irritating  the  Geese."* 

*THE  GEESE. 

A  long  rod  in  his  hand, 

Peter  drove  on  a  band 

Of  geese  to  market  bound  ; 

And  being  pressed  for  tin:ie,  he  was  not  overkind. 

But  hunted  them  and  hurried  them  lest  he  should  be  behind  ; 

And  would  not  let  them  stray,  or  straggle  o'er  the  ground. 

With  rage  the  birds  now  gobbled,  and  in  furious  manner  hissed, 


io6  Labor. 

In  other  words,  they  do  not  cast  the  truth  into 
his  face,  but  approach  it  by  a  by-path. 

But  I,  whether  from  awkwardness  or  from 
love  for  the  truth,  I  do  irritate  the  geese.  What 
do  you  think  of  it,  reader?  Shall  they  give  me 
blows  with  their  beaks,  till  death  threatens  to 
follow  ?  Never  mind  ;  cost  what  it  may,  I  will 
not  be  silent.     I  will  not  hypocritically  conceal 


Till  the  lad  was  fairly  puzzled  and  his  way  to  market  missed. 
A  man  who  chanced  to  pass  that  way,  the  gander  soon  espied, 
And  then  began  his  neck  to  stretch,  as  wrathfully  he  cried, 
(In  the  goose  language,)  "  Look,  kind  sir,  how  cruelly  we  are 

treated 
By  this  audacious  peasant,  who  our  tempers  thus  has  heated. 
We're  geese  of  noble  lineage  ;  our  ancestors  were  holy, 
And  in  the  Roman  capitol  were  worshipped  all  and  solely. 
Karasmin  and  d'Hosier  agree  on  this  if  nothing  else." 
Said  the  stranger,    "  Worthy  creatures,   I  do  not  doubt  your 

words. 
Your  manners  show  me  that  you  are  most  aristocratic  birds." 
"  Truly  and  of  our  ancestors  we  share  the  glorious  name. 
And  strive   to  live  up   to  the  deeds  that   won   them   endless 

fame." 
"  'Tis  well.     Of  your  great  deeds  recount  me  some,  I  pray." 
"  Our  ancestors — "     "  I  know  that  yarn  for  many  a  weary  day. 
They  saved  great  Rome  by  hissing  ;  but  yourselves,  what  have 

you  done  ?" 
"  Our  ancestors — "  "  Oh,  bother  them!  what  merits  have  you  ?" 

"  None  !" 


Ah,  if  I  chose  to  listen  to  the  vauntings  and  the  boast 

Of  geese  who  don't   wear  feathers  and  who  are  not  good  to 

roast, 
What  sermons  I  could  preach!     "  Hush,  hush  !     I  prithee,  not 

a  word  !" 
To-day  shines  forth  the  glorious  bow  of  promise  from  the  Lord. 


Labor.  I07 

my  thoughts.  Since  I  have  taken  the  right  path 
I  will  follow  it  while  I  live,  not  deviating  to  the 
right  nor  to  tiie  left. 

There  is  a  book  called  The  Civil  Marriage. 
I  have  never  read  it ;  but  I  know  that  the  po- 
mestchik  Novossesslky  therein  complains  to  his 
wife  of  a  peasant:  ''Would  you  believe,"  he 
says,  "  that  this  miserable  servant  has  neglected 
to  air  my  shirt  ?  "  (I  can  scarcely  help  laughing 
in  writing  this )  "  I  have  scolded  him,  and  he 
replies  :  *  I  have  always  given  your  late  father, 
the  general,  a  damp  shirt,  and  he  never  com- 
plained.' " 

This  characteristic  confounds  me  !  Idleness 
has  so  taken  possession  of  a  man  that  he  finds  it 
an  insupportable  task  to  put  on  his  own  shirts. 
We  must  conclude  that  if  he  was  shown  the 
everlasting  fire  in  which  he  and  his  descend- 
ants must  burn  eternally,  according  to  the 
Christian  doctrine,  he  would  consent  to  be 
thrown  into  it,  rather  than  gather  one  blade  of 
straw  or  one  grain  of  wheat. 

Ah,  in  what  a  profound  abyss  are  men 
plunged  by  idleness  and  luxury  !  Talk  to  the 
rich  of  the  divine  commandment,  and  he  will 
bring  up  eloquently  a  hundred  arguments  to 
prove  that  he  eats  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his 
face. 

121.  I  would  like  to  ask  (if  I  knew  whom  to 
address)  whether  the  pomestchiks  do  have 
their  shirts  put  on  them  by  their  servants.  It 
is  true,  comes  the  answer  from  all  sides ;  their 


io8  Labor. 

clothes  are  put  on  them  like  dead  men's  shrouds ! 
Then  what  do  they  do  with  their  owft  hands  all 
the  while  ? 

This  is  a  feature  of  slothfulness  no  one  could 
have  imagined,  if  it  had  not  been  true. 

122.  How  these  peasant-slaves  suffer!  The 
very  recollection  of  their  sufferings  grieves  me. 
I  shudder  when  I  think  of  them.  It  would  have 
been  better  for  them  never  to  have  been  born. 
Had  I  a  thousand  tongues,  I  could  not  tell  all 
the  fatal  calamities  which  befall  them,  or  the 
torments  these  martyrs  endure. 

Human  lips  could  not  express  their  sufferings. 
But  I  will  tell  you  one  outrage  we  undergo. 
It  may  be  that  you  who  listen  are  yourselves 
pomestchiks.  I  will  not  the  less  tell  the  truth, 
for  I  would  not  be  accused  of  falsehood.  And 
I  have  myself  been  a  laborer  with  a  pomestchik 
on  the  Don. 

123,  Three  days  in  the  week,  the  peasant 
labors  for  himself;  the  other  three  days  he  and 
all  his  family  labor  for  the  pomestchik.  His 
wife,  his  children  scarcely  twelve  years  old,  and 
the  old  men  of  sixty,  work  in  their  turn,  and  like 
beasts  of  burden.  The  implements  of  labor,  the 
plough,  the  cart,  the  harrows,  the  scythes,  the 
axes,  etc.,  all  must  be  bought  by  the  peasant. 

If  he  has  involuntarily  caused  some  waste  in 
laboring  for  the  pomestchik,  he  must  repair  it 
at  his  own  expense.  He  must,  besides,  thrash 
the  corn  in  a  field  far  from  all  habitations,  and 
there,  notwithstanding  the  cold,  he  must  work 


Labor.  r09 

all  day  for  the  pomestchik.  Many  labor  while 
half  naked,  and  tortured  with  hunger  ;  but  it 
matters  not,  they  must  labor  for  the  pomestchik. 
Is  it  not  a  cruel  punishment?  And  yet  these 
people  have  neither  defender  nor  protector. 

124.  Three  days  for  himself  and  three  days 
for  the  pomestchik  ;  in  a  word,  one  year  for 
himself,  and  one  year  for  the  pomestchik:  this 
is  the  peasant's  life.  But  from  the  year  in  which 
he  works  for  himself  he  must  first  deduct  eighty 
days  which  are  festivals, — for  these  people  are 
very  pious, — then  eighty  other  days  of  idleness 
resulting  from  the  accidents  of  labor.  And, 
finally  :  the  peasant  is  not  a  stone,  he  may  fall 
ill,  perhaps  for  fifty  days  in  two  years.  There 
remain,  then,  only  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
days  in  which  he  can  labor  for  himself. 

125.  I  ask  if,  in  this  case,  he  can,  on  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  days  of  work,  supply  all  his 
wants  for  two  years,  that  is,  for  this  year  and  for 
the  next  (in  which  he  labors  for  the  benefit  of 
the  pomestchik).  Consider  that  he  must,  besides, 
collect  enough  money  to  pay  each  year  the  fis- 
cal and  personal  taxes.  If  the  husband  or 
wife  should  die,  there  remain  perhaps  a  dozen 
children  under  age  :  to-day  they  have  the  fu- 
neral, and  to-morrow  they  must  resume  work 
for  the  pomestchik. 

126.  Besides  that,  the  pomestchik  takes  from 
the  peasants  divers  provisions,  as  chickens, 
geese,  eggs,  butter,  etc.  He  keeps  note  of  what 
is  given,  and  with  those  who  give  nothing  he 


1 10  Labor. 

will  deal  trickily,  and  they  have  no  one  to 
whom  they  can  complain.  Endeavor  to  speak 
to  him  of  the  commandment,  and  he  will  not  let 
you  utter  a  word.  He  will  overwhelm  you 
with  arguments,  and  will  prove  to  you  that 
he  follows  the  commandment,  and  that  he  is 
himself  content  to  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
his  face,  and  that  the  peasants  on  the  contrary 
are  sluggards  and  parasites,  etc. 

Perhaps  there  are  some  good  pomestchiks 
somewhere;  but  I  insist  that  at  least  all  those 
on  the  Don  are  such  as  I  have  described  them, 

127.  Is  it  right,  you  ask,  to  thus  insult  the 
benefactors  who  nourish  you,  or,  in  other 
words,  to  return  evil  for  good,  and  hatred  for 
love? 

But  how  can  you  always  thus  praise  your- 
selves, and  claim  that  no  one  is  just  or  compas- 
sionate but  yourself.? 

128,  They  say  :  A  pomestchik  may  be  a  vir- 
tuous man. 

Well,  without  doubt  he  might  if  he  labored 
for  his  own  bread.  That  never  has  happened, 
nor  ever  will. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  true  believer,  the  principal 
means  of  being  absolved  from  sin  is  in  receiv- 
ing the  holy  communion.  But  according  to 
God's  first  commandment,  the  absolution  gained 
by  laboring  for  one's  own  bread  is  a  thousand 
times  more  to  be  esteemed.  But  the  million- 
aire has  paid  twenty  kopecks  the  measure  for 
wheat,  and  so  he  is  free  of  the  commandment.' 


Labor.  MI 

129.  It  is  claimed  that  the  condition  of  the 
pomestchik's  peasant-slaves  is  preferable  to  that 
of  the  peasants  employed  by  the  State.  They 
say  that,  because  they  do  not  know  us,  for  there 
are  many  thousand  of  us,  and  we  can  prove  the 
contrary  a  thousands  times.  But  the  pomest- 
chik  stands  by  himself,  and  he  has  but  to  say 
that  the  peasants  under  his  protection  are 
happier  than  those  employed  by  the  State,  and 
his  words  will  be  believed. 

130.  All  that  is  now  over,  and  slavery  is 
abolished ;  but  the  sorrow  that  the  sight  of  its 
infamies  has  caused  me  has  not  yet  disappeared, 
and  it  will  for  a  long  time  leave  its  traces  on  my 
soul. 

Till  the  age  of  sixty,  the  peasant  labors 
for  the  pomestchik  ;  deducting  from  this  his  thir- 
teen years  of  childhood,  there  remain  forty-seven 
years,  of  which  twenty-four  are  spent  in  labor- 
ing for  the  pomestchik,  and  the  twenty-three 
which  remain  in  laboring  for  himself. 

Try  now  to  hire  a  peasant  who  is  employed 
by  the  State,  and  say  to  him  :  Labor  for  me  one 
year  with  your  wife,  your  children,  and  your 
cattle  :  maintenance,  clothing,  implements,  etc., 
to  be  all  at  your  own  cost:  if  you  waste  any- 
thing while  laboring  for  me,  put  it  in  the  account 
against  yourself.  For  what  price  would  the 
peasant  consent  to  labor  thus  for  a  year? 

He  would  ask  at  least  500  roubles,  which 
would  amount  in  twenty-three  years  to  11,500 
roubles. 


1 1 2  Labor. 

This  is  the  sum  that  the  pomestchik  has 
stolen,  if  not  in  money,  at  least  in  labor,  from 
the  peasant  who  has  given  all  his  life  to  his  ser- 
vice. 

And  this  money  the  pomestchik  has  lost  at 
cards,  or  has  used  to  satisfy  similar  caprices. 

Why,  I  ask,  has  he  taken  this  money  ?  Did 
the  peasant  owe  it  to  him  ?  No.  Had  he  any 
reason  for  acting  thus?  Not  one.  Then  why 
has  he  taken  this  large  sum  ?     For  nothing  ! 

131.  From  the  entire  universe  complaints  are 
being  made  against  God.  If  his  goodness  is 
infinite,  whence  comes  the  misery  that  over- 
whelms the  poor  ? 

If  God  governs  the  world  with  justice,  why 
is  there  this  inequality  among  men?  Why  is 
vice  happy,  and  virtue  miserable? 

But  is  it  the  fault  of  the  mirror  if  our  face  is 
ugly  ?  In  other  words,  is  it  God's  fault  if  we  re- 
ject the  law  that  would  establish  equality  among 
men? 

132.  Enforce  this  law  which  says  that  no  one 
shall  eat  bread  that  another  has  labored  for,  ex- 
cept in  legitimate  cases,  and  then,  if  men  are  not 
yet  equal,  they  will  nevertheless  approach  more 
nearly  to  one  another.  Labor  will  cut  the  wings 
of  those  who  would  soar  too  loftily. 

We  are  poor  through  your  riches,  but  you 
are  rich  through  our  povert3\ 

133.  Our  great-grandfathers,  say  you,  our 
grandfathers,  our  fathers,  our  ancestors  in  a 
word,  have   labored,  and  we   also,  as  you   see, 


Labor.  115 

labor  till  old  age.  All  that  they  gained  by  their 
labor  they  left  to  their  children,  and  these  have 
transmitted  it  to  theirs. 

Then  why  am  not  I  rich  ?  why  can  I  not  even 
practice  the  least  economy  ?  I  owe  no  more 
than  my  grandfather  did,  perhaps  even  less. 

134.  Is  it  that  there  are  sluggards  and  drunk- 
ards in  our  family?  No,  my  grandfather  has 
said,  never !  Have  my  goods  been  destroyed 
by  fire  or  flood?  No,  nothing  like  that  has 
happened. 

135.  Then  what  has  become  of  my  labor? 
What  brigand  has  stolen  my  fortune  ?  Whence 
come  your  treasures,  O  rich  man?  Answer  me 
faithfully. 

136.  Oh,  if  the  wrong  they  do  us  were  only 
temporary  !  But  it  is  eternal.  As  the  genera- 
tions pass,  those  of  to-day  must  still  suffer 
misery.  They  will  never  have  defender  nor 
protector.  But  that  is  only  because  you  have 
buried  alive  our  father,  that  is  to  say,  the  com- 
mandment. 

137.  Here  is  what  I  have  had  a  glimpse  of  all 
my  life,  and  what  I  see  clearly  to-day,  after 
having  for  a  long  time  studied  the  meaning  of 
this  commandment :  all  the  world  over  the  peas- 
ants go  into  the  fields  and  labor  for  bread,  as- 
sisted by  their  little  children.  The  newly  born, 
who  have  not  yet  tasted  bread,  suffer  for  want  of 
it.  To  see  these  people,  would  they  not  seem  like 
bees  flying  over  the  fields  and  gathering  honey 
by  the  way  ? 


114  Labor. 

And  in  beholding  men  of  the  upper  classes, 
I  have  compared  them  to  drones,  who  are  con- 
tent to  buzz  without  working,  and  to  live  by  the 
labor  of  others. 

Every  day  robbers  are  arrested  ;  but  are  they 
really  robbers,  or  merely  rogues?  I  have  found 
a  robber,  a  real  robber  who  has  stolen  from  God 
and  the  Church ;  he  has  taken  away  the  primi- 
tive law  which  belongs  to  us  laborers.  I  wish 
to  show  you  this  robber  in  person.  He  who 
does  not  labor  with  his  own  hands  for  bread, 
but  eats  the  bread  of  another's  labor,  he  is  that 
robber :  arrest  and  sentence  him  ! 

He  has  carefully  hidden  the  commandment 
of  God,  and  no  one  for  7390  years  has  been 
able  to  discover  it.  Furthermore,  he  has  stolen 
innumerable  millions  from  the  poor,  and  he  has 
left  them  and  their  infants,  half  naked  and 
starving,  while  he  has  by  this  means  exalted 
himself  to  the  clouds. 

138.  The  bees  clip  the  wings  of  the  drones,  that 
they  may  not  eat  up  the  honey  they  have  them- 
selves gathered.  Your  turn  has  come,  ye  para- 
sites, and  we  have  clipped  your  wings,  that  you 
may  not  eat  the  bread  of  our  labor.  I  know 
that  you  will  not  the  less  continue  to  eat  it ;  but 
when  you  lift  the  bread  to  your  mouth,  your  con- 
science will  take  you  by  the  throat,  and  nothing 
can  deliver  you  from  its  grasp.  If  bread  could 
be  acquired  by  fraud,  and  if  like  all  other  things, 
it  could  be  hidden  in  a  secret  place  where  it 
would  remain  in  safety,  all  would  go  well.    But 


Labor.  \\% 

we  cannot  hide  bread  away ;  it  must  be  eaten 
at  once. 

That  deserves  reflection. 

139.  Now  you  of  the  upper  classes,  who  have 
placed  yourselves  among  the  clouds,  consider 
that  you  have  imprisoned  yourselves  in  the 
bonds  of  impiety,  and  that  you  have  not  the 
strength  to  break  your  chains. 

Behold  yourselves  plunged  in  a  profound 
abyss,  whence  you  cannot  come  forth  till  God 
casts  out  of  you  the  tyrant  Idleness  and  his 
twin-brother  Luxury. 

We  pray  you,  then,  to  surrender  to  us  the 
treasure  that  God  has  created  especially  for  our 
use,  and  which  is  the  fundamental  law  of  human- 
ity ;  in  other  words,  promulgate  it  everywhere. 
Then  we  will  enrich  you,  and  heap  up  gold  for 
you,  because,  hoping  henceforth  for  safety,  not 
only  labor  for  bread,  but  all  other  kinds  of  labor, 
will  seem  to  us  easy. 

140.  The  most  weak-minded  men,  and  even 
children,  would  comprehend,  in  hearing  this  law 
proclaimed,  that  it  is  the  first  that  God  gave  to 
the  first  man,  and  that  it  is  more  important  than 
all  other  virtues  or  commandments  put  together. 
They  will  at  once  say  to  themselves :  "  I  must 
labor  more  than  ever;  but  I  will  pass  my  life 
willingly  in  the  fields,  to  merit  happiness  in  the 
next  world.'' 

Surrender  to  us,  then,  O  ye  rich,  the  treas- 
ure that  you,  or  rather  your  ancestors,  have 
stolen  and  concealed  from  us ;  give  up  to  us  the 


1 1 6  Labor. 

most  sacred  of  our  goods,  the  gift  we  hold  from 
God! 

Above  all  authorities,  the  laws  that  are  trans 
mitted  by  tradition  have  seemed  to  me  most 
important.  But  now  they  are  insignificant, 
because  this  one  commandment,  "  Knead  thy 
bread,"  etc,  has  filled  my  heart  and  mind. 

It  will  result,  if  it  is  promulgated,  in  depriv- 
ing the  priests  of  bread ;  for  now  they  eat  it 
without  laboring,  and  no  one  dare  reproach  them 
with  their  idleness.  But  then,  every  one  will 
cast  this  truth  in  their  face. 

141.  When  I  left  my  manuscript  after  having 
transcribed  the  preceding  article  (for  I  have 
taken  six  months  to  copy  my  work  at  odd  mo- 
ments), the}^  came  to  ask  us  to  lend  bread  to 
the  city  of  Krasmoiarsk.  The  inhabitants  of 
our  village — veritable  Jews — had  by  a  vote 
taken  in  the  communal  assembly,  accorded  fifty- 
measures  of  wheat  to  the  magazine  of  the  Mir.'*' 
Why  have  they  given  so  little?  "  Because  the 
mare  has  eaten  all  the  bread."  f 

Several  persons  congratulated  the  man  who 
took  the  initiative  in  this  proposition  ;  but  many 
were  angr3\  "Fifty  measures!  fifty  measures  ! 
But  that  is  only  twenty  pounds  to  each  house. 

*  Or  communal  magazine,  where  each  household  should 
contribute,  for  the  use  of  the  indigent,  the  tenth  part  of  its 
harvest. 

See,  on  this  subject,  A.  Leroy-BeauHeu,  Religion  in  Russia. 
Revue  des  Deux-Mondes,  Sept.  15,  1888.  i'  423. 

f  Russian  proverb.  It  is  a  pretext  employed  to  evade  giv- 
ing this  alms. 


Labor.  yvj 

Why  do  you  give  only  twenty  pounds  ?  they 
say,  at  the  communal  assembly.  You  might  as 
well  have  given  nothing  at  all.  If  you  under- 
take to  give  at  all,  you  should  at  least  contribute 
two  or  three  measures  from  each  house,  or  even 
two  sacks." 

142.  You  see  what  I  predicted  has  happened. 
Bread  must  not  be  sold,  but  in  certain  admissi- 
ble cases  it  must  be  given  gratis.  And  they 
give  it,  while  you  conceal  the  commandment  of 
labor  for  bread.  But  if  it  had  been  made  known 
to  all  men,  without  diminishing  its  importance, 
the  burned  city  of  Krasmoiarsk  would  have  re- 
ceived from  our  district  of  Manoussinsk  alone, 
several  thousand  measures  of  wheat,  and  each 
commune  would  cause  the  necessary  succor  to 
be  distributed.  It  would  be  doaie  in  all  cases, 
for  no  one  knows  what  may  "happen  to  himself 
to-morrow,  or  even  to-day. 

143.  Ask  instead  for  money.  It  will  not  be 
given:  1st,  because  the  peasant  rarely  has  any; 
2d,  because  the  commandment  above  cited  di- 
rects the  laborer  to  give  bread,  rather  than 
anything  else.  Besides,  money  is  a  lifeless 
thing  compared  with  bread  ;  it  is  as  a  mere 
stone.  No  one  makes  gifts  in  nione}'  ;  the  more 
one  has  of  it,  the  more  the  desire  increases  for 
it.  Give  all  the  money  and  treasures  in  the 
world  to  one  person:  will  it  make  him  happy? 
will  it  satisfy  his  cupidity?  No.  But  what 
could  he  wish  for  more?  why  would  he  be  dis 
contented  ?     He  will   cry,  "  I  would  hold  the 


lit  Labor. 

whole  world  in  my  hands,  I  would  control  all 
men,  and  behold  in  one  glance  the  whole  uni- 
verse!      Whichever    way    I    look,   nothing    is 


mme 


144.  But,  I  will  answer  him  ;  you  must  for 
that  live  a  thousand  years,  because,  whatever 
may  be  your  powers,  you  could  never,  in  an 
ordinary  life,  absorb  everything.  You  would 
be  suffocated. 

But  bread  is  a  thing  absolutely  opposed  to 
money  ;  they  are  two  enemies,  even  as  the  la- 
borer is  the  enemy  of  the  idle  man. 

145.  They  say  that  henceforth  taxes  will  be 
levied  on  the  land  ;  that  is,  the  amount  will 
be  proportioned  to  the  area  of  the  land  we 
possess.  Why  do  you  say,  on  the  land  ?  Ad- 
mit frankly  that  it  is  the  laborers  alone  who 
pay  the  taxes.  Here  is  some  land  that  is  not 
cultivated  ;  go  and  take  thence  the  money  and 
bread  you  need.  "According  to  the  decree  of 
Him  who  created  me,  it  will  answer,  I  await 
some  one's  coming  to  cultivate  me;  if  you  come 
for  any  other  purpose,  depart,  O  parasite." 

Permit  me  to  ask  why  you  exact  taxes  from 
those  who  nourish  you  with  their  bread,  while 
from  thos3  who  never  labor  for  bread  you  do 
not  take  a  single  kopeck.  If  the  land  were  but 
free  !  But  the  State  has  taken  it  to  give  to  the 
pomcstchiks,  and  they  exact  from  us  ten  times 
its  value.  Whether  the  wheat  ripens  or  not, 
give  us  the  money:  and  where  shall  we  get 
"it? 


Labor.  II9 

Although  the  law  says :  "  Turn  thy  cheek  to 
him  who  smites  thee,"  when  I  consider  the  cry- 
ing  injustice  of  which  you  are  guilty  towards 
us,  I  refuse  (and  I  include  all  our  class  of  labor- 
ers, the  young,  the  old,  and  infants  at  their 
mothers'  breasts),  I  refuse,  I  say,  to  grant  you 
the  right  to  wrangle  over  bread,  and  over  the 
earth  that  produces  it ;  be  contented  to  speak 
of  the  stones,  and  the  land  that  only  produces 
bitter  wormwood. 

If  you  had  an  earnest  desire  to  labor,  and 
could  not  do  so  for  any  reason,  you  would  be 
pardonable;  but  you  evade  it  from  idleness.  In 
this  case,  what  pardon  can  you  hope  for.?  I 
know  you  cannot  answer  these  questions. 

You  will  employ,  you  say,  even  violence  to 
procure  your  food.  But  could  you  so  live,  could 
you  swallow  one  mouthful  of  the  bread  that  you 
had  gained  by  violence  ?  No,  no !  that  mouth- 
ful would  choke  you,  body  and  soul,  no  matter 
what  rank  you  occupy. 

Rich  man,  have  pity  on  us!  For  how  many 
thousand  years  have  you,  like  a  wild  horse, 
galloped  over  our  backs !  Consider,  for  how 
long  a  time  you  have  torn  the  flesh  from  our 
bones !  .^ 

The  bread  you  eat  is  our  body,  the  wine  you  f 
drink  is  our  blood.  '^ 

146.  When  I  had  learned  the  first  command- 
ment, notwithstanding  my  sixty-five  years,  my 
weakness  and  emaciation,  I  labored  in  the 
ground    for  a  whole  year  (1881).     I  harrowed 


126  Labor. 

without  any  assistance  eight  acres  of  fallow 
ground ;  I  led  the  first  plough-horse  ;  I  culti- 
vated the  same  ground  a  second  time  ;  I  labored 
in  the  fields  by  day,  and  at  night  I  took  care  of 
the  horses.  But,  in  spite  of  all  that,  I  felt  no 
fatigue.  Then  I  gathered  in  the  wheat  and 
hay  with  the  help  of  my  son  and  my  son's 
wife. 

147.  You  see  the  effect  that  this  commandment 
can  have.  Thanks  to  it,  the  old  man  becomes 
young,  the  feeble  strong,  the  idle  industrious, 
the  imbecile  intelligent,  the  drunkard  sober,  and 
the  poor  rich.  Could  I  have  done  all  that, 
could  I  have  so  labored  in  the  earth,  if  I  did 
not  know  I  was  digging  where  you  had  hidden 
the  commandment  ?  If  the  poor  knew  their  own 
strength,  they  would  not  submit  to  such  out- 
rages. Man  would  then  deliver  himself  from 
the  indigence  and  misery  which  strangle  him. 

148.  If  God  vSends  an  abundant  harvest  to  the 
eight  acres  I  have  cultivated,  I  and  my  family 
will  have  more  than  enough  to  satisfy  us. 
Know,  also,  O  idle  men,  that  I  could  support 
thirty  men  with  the  produce  of  my  labor. 

149.  If  you  have  an  earnest  desire  to  labor, 
and  cannot  for  good  reasons  do  so,  you  would 
be  pardonable  by  God  and  man  ;  but  it  is  from 
idleness  that  you  do  not  work ;  is  it  then  possi- 
ble to  esteem  you?  Never,  in  any  degree. 
Hitherto  a  superior  seemed  to  me  a  high  per- 
sonage ;  but  now  he  is  in  my  eyes  the  lowest  of 
men.     I  would  like  to  get  this  notion  out  of  my 


Labor.  I2l 

head  ;  but  I  cannot,  it  comes  back  in  sp'le  of  me. 
I  hear  often  that  it  is  proposed  to  unite  all  men 
in  one  religion.  Is  it  true?  I  know  not.  But  if 
it  is  attempted,  I  declare  that,  instead  of  uniting 
men,  they  will  remain  divided  in  as  many  sects 
as  ever,  and  the  result  will  be  more  hurtful  than 
useful.  It  was  easy  to  influence  men  in  ancient 
times,  when  they  were  still  savage  ;  they  could 
then  be  led  by  a  mere  thread,  without  fear  of 
its  breaking.  But  to-day  you  may  bind  them 
with  a  triple  rope,  and  you  will  not  lead  them 
one  step,  first  because  of  their  own  customs, 
and  then  because  they  have  a  pride  which  keeps 
them  from  submitting  one  to  another. 

Found  religion,  however,  on  the  primitive 
law,  without  adding  strange  rules,  and  soon  all 
the  universe  will  be  united.  Otherwise  it  is 
impossible  to  obtain  the  union  you  dream  of. 

150.  From  poverty  to  riches  is  but  a  step; 
inversely  the  distance  is  even  less.  It  is  the 
same  with  the  general  and  the  soldier.  A  man 
knows  not  when  his  chariot  may  be  overturned  ; 
or,  in  other  words,  destiny  may  to-day  give  him 
a  million,  and  to-morrow  make  him  as  poor  as 
we  are  ;  to  day  he  may  be  a  general,  and  to-mor- 
row our  equal. 

151.  Behold,  then,  the  path  you  should  fol- 
low. 

Hasten  to  teach  the  child,  however  noble  ma}' 
be  his  family,  the  first  commandment.  When 
he  has  grown  up,  show  him  by  example  how  to 
labor  for  bread.    Then,  should  misfortune  over- 


1 22  Labor. 

take  him,  he  will  not  even  sigh,  as  he  hastens 
with  ardor  to  labor  for  his  own  bread. 

"  For  a  long  time,"  he  will  cr}',  "  I  have  wished 
to  occup}'^  myself  with  this  labor,  but  I  could 
not  withstand  my  fortune ;  to-day  I  thank  God 
for  having  delivered  me  from  the  burden  which 
made  me  give  way  to  sin."  Turning  back 
his  sleeves  and  the  lappets  of  his  coat,  he  will 
take  the  plough  in  hand,  which  he  already  knows 
how  to  use,  and  will  go  singing  to  his  work. 

152.  But  what  do  we  now  see?  When  for- 
tune proves  false  to  a  man,  and  he  is  forced  to 
earn  his  bread  with  his  hands,  he  becomes  dis- 
couraged, and  even  disgraces  himself,  bringing 
misfortune  on  all  his  race.  And  whose  is  the 
fault  ?  Yours,  because  you  have  hidden,  and  you 
still  hide  from  him  the  divine  commandment. 
It  should  not  be  the  subjects  who  are  condemned 
to  enforced  labor,  but  our  rulers.  And  why  ? 
they  ask.  Because  you  should  not  have  con- 
cealed  the  law  of  God.  The  responsibility  of 
this  crime  should  rest  on  the  priests  and  on  the 
Israelitish  Rabbi,  and  not  on  the  civil  and  mili- 
tary authorities,  who  are  not  culpable  in  this ! 

153.  You  see  now,  readers,  that  all  your 
books  are  of  no  value  by  the  side  of  mine. 
Your  eloquent  subterfuges  are  empty  nonsense 
compared  with  our  simple  language.  All  your 
precious  labors  for  which  you  pay  so  generously, 
are  as  nothing  compared  to  ours.  Neither  can 
)'Ou  compare  with  us  in  merit.  The  treasures 
which  fill  your  houses  have  no  value  compared 


Labor.  j  23 

to  the  bread  for  which  we  labor.  All  your 
great  intelligence  is  weak  before  our  simple 
faith.  Your  millions  have  no  more  value  than 
our  poor  possessions. 

154.  During  all  ages  we  have  had  the  rich 
and  the  poor,  but  no  one  could  see  why  there 
should  be  any  difference  in  position  between 
these  two  classes  of  men  because  one  had  a 
small  capital,  another's  was  twice  as  great,  a 
third's  three  times  as  great,  etc.;  and  each  one 
points  with  his  finger  saying :  "  Is  it  I  that  am 
rich  ?  Such  a  one,  or  another,  may  indeed  be 
called  so." 

It  is  these  rich  men  of  whom  Jesus  Christ  has 
said  :  "  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through 
the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God."     (St.  Mark  x.  25.) 

But  I  have  seen  a  distance  between  the  rich 
and  poor  like  that  between  heaven  and  earth,  or 
between  the  east  and  west.  Between  us  and 
you,  as  has  been  said,  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  :  we 
cannot  come  to  you,  nor  you  to  us.  >_ 

155.  Suppose,  for  example,  I  gave  a  rich  or 
an  educated  man  this  counsel:  "You  see  on 
your  side  only  baseness ;  come  over  to  ours. 
Do  not  labor  for  bread,  since  you  never  have 
done  it,  but,  by  the  mere  fact  of  coming  to 
us,  you  will  escape  the  insupportable  reproaches 
of  your  conscience."  "  I  cannot  do  it,"  he  will 
reply;  "  I  would  rather  die  than  join  you." 

156.  Will  it  not  be  the  same  at  the  last  judg- 
ment,  as  says    the   Holy    Scriptures?     In   his 


1 24  Labor. 

merc)%  God  would  welcome  you,  but  for  ver}* 
shame  you  will  shrink  from  him.  God,  never- 
theless, will  not  withdraw  his  mercy,  though 
you  have  scorned  the  labor  for  bread  that  he 
has  prescribed,  and  trampled  under  foot  those 
who  have  cultivated  the  ground. 

157.  For  7382  years  your  festival  has  lasted, 
while  we  have  labored.  Now,  in  1882,  com- 
mences our  festival  and  your  labor,  if  the  com- 
mandment is  comprehended  b}'  every  peasant. 
What  joy,  what  triumph  this  will  be  for  our  in- 
ferior class  ! 

158.  If  you  have  occasion  to  remain  some 
time  in  the  country,  you  must  borrow  for  some 
days  the  eyes  of  an  animal,  for  you  could  not 
remain  there,  having  human  eyes.  As  much  as 
we  shall  be  elevated,  you  will  be  abased.  No 
one,  nevertheless,  will  reproach  you  openly  ; 
ihey  will  give  you  to  eat  and  to  drink,  but  the 
reproaches  that  will  follow  your  steps  will  be 
more  painful  than  if  they  were  made  to  your 
face. 

159.  If  you  earned  your  bread  by  labor- 
ing with  your  hands,  and  not  by  buying  it 
with  money,  your  feast  would  be  the  more  com- 
plete. We  are  now  your  inferiors.  We  would 
then  be  still  lower,  for  we  labor  under  compul- 
sion and  pressed  by  want,  while  you  would  be 
laboring  in  obedience  to  the  commandment. 
Your  merit  would  be  but  the  greater  and  more 
estimable. 

160.  You  occupy  now,  in   spite  of  us,  our 


Labor.  125 

place  at  the  table ;  and  we  remain  standing  so 
humbly  before  you  that  your  conscience  per- 
mits it.  But  then  true  justice  will  triumph.  It 
may  spare  you,  but  it  will  no  longer  wrong  us. 
You  will  not  always  have  the  place  of  honor, 
and  we  will  not  always  take  the  foot  of  the 
table. 

161.  The  sluggards  say  to  me:  If  you  had 
found  out  how  to  be  rich  and  happy  without 
labor,  all  the  world  would  have  thanked  you 
for  it.  But  when  you  invite  us  to  a  painful, 
wearisome,  and  humiliating  task,  who  will  give 
your  words  an}'-  consideration?  You  would 
persuade  the  government  that  the  primitive  law 
is  founded  on  labor  for  bread.  But  many  well- 
educated  people  see  the  law  only  as  through 
an  obscure  mist.  Must  we  then  deceive  our- 
selves for  bread  ?  What  is  the  use  of  writing 
on  a  subject  that  is  not  worth  the  trouble  ?  Or 
of  speaking,  even,  when  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
kopecks  one  may  have  a  measure  of  grain  ? 

In  fine,  if  this  labor  leads  to  salvation,  all  ed- 
ucated persons,  and  above  all  the  priests,  should 
hasten  to  undertake  it.  But  thev'  disdain  it, 
and  like  better  a  life  of  ease.  Then  there  is  noth- 
ing in  it  of  value  to  salvation.  The  theory  you 
maintain  is  but  as  a  tale  in  the  Arabian  Nights. 

162.  The  principal  scourge  of  our  class,  that 
which  throws  us  in  spite  of  ourselves  into  mis- 
ery, dejection,  and  all  similar  unhappiness,  is 
the  division  of  goods  among  brothers.  It  is 
impossible  to  speak  of  this  evil  in  few  words. 


1 26  Labor. 

The  cause  is  alwa3''S  the  same  :  they  have  hidden 
from  the  world  the  law  of  hibor.  If  this  law  was 
made  known,  a  hundred  men  could  live  together. 
He  who  should  command  need  not  be  haughty, 
and  he  who  should  obey  need  not  be  quick  to 
take  offence.  If  among  this  group  a  father  or 
mother  should  die,  the  children  would  rest  in 
this  centre  of  cordial  harmony,  and  the  bereaved 
spouse  would  feel  the  blow  less  keenly.  The 
orphans  would  find  among  them  fathers,  mo- 
thers, brothers,  and  sisters,  in  a  word,  many 
protectors  and  defenders. 

Women  are  usually  compassionate  :  they  will 
care  for  orphans  in  preference  to  their  own 
children.  Thus  this  law  carries  with  it  all  vir- 
tues and  is  opposed  to  all  vices.  It  was  not  in 
vain  that  God  said  in  creating  the  world :  "  Let 
there  be  light,  for  that  is  good."  *  You  have 
taken  away  this  gift  of  God  in  the  sight  of  men, 
and  you  say  softly  to  each  other,  "  What  fools 
these  men  are  who  nourish  us  and  supply  us 
with  good  clothes  for  nothing  !  We  give  them 
orders,  and  they  obey  us  !" 

163.  If  a  man  speaks  of  a  crime  before  a  nu- 
merous society,  he  does  not  designate  any  one 
as  its  author,  for  he  cannot  look  into  the  con- 
sciences of  those  present ;  he  speaks  of  the  crime 
from  a  legal  point  of  view,  and  touches  no  one's 

*  Alluding  to  this  passage  in  Genesis  :  "  God  made  the  sun; 
he  made  the  stars  also.  And  God  set  them  in  the  firmament 
of  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth.  And  God  saw  that  it 
was  good." 


Labor.  127 

sensitiveness.  But  if  he  speaks  of  the  primitive 
law,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou 
knead  bread,"  he  cannot  conceal  the  name  of 
the  criminal,  because  he  bears  the  mark  of 
Cain. 

To  disobey  this  commandment  is  the  greatest 
of  crimes  ;  and  if  it  is  committed  by  an  inferior 
man  it  may  not  be  noticed  ;  but  as  it  is  addressed 
to  those  who  are  elevated  among  the  clouds,  all 
the  world  sees  their  infringement  of  it. 

I  would  rather  praise  men  than  criticise  them, 
but  here  that  would  be  impossible.  In  the  pres- 
ence of  the  holiness  of  labor,  would  it  become 
me  to  disguise  my  thoughts  in  cowardly  adula- 
tion? 

164.  God  gave  two  commandments  to  our  an- 
cestors Adam  and  Eve.  The  first  is,  "  Be  fruitful 
and  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth  ;"  the  sec- 
ond, "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  knead 
bread."  Why,  I  ask  you,  do  you  execute  the  first 
commandment  of  God  with  alacrity,  and  dis- 
dain the  second,  flying  to  conceal  yourselves  in 
different  corners,  while  you  say,  I  will  employ 
a  good  workman  to  make  my  bread  ? 

You  fulfil  the  first  commandment  personally ; 
why  not  the  second  ? 

It  is  inadmissible  to  labor  for  bread  by  the 
hand  of  another,  and  it  can  only  be  done  in  cer- 
tain permitted  cases.  Tell  me  why  you  disdain 
one  commandment  more  than  the  other.  What 
if  your  wives  should  say  to  you :  "  We  have  ful- 
filled our  commandment ;  we  bring  forth  chil- 


1 2$  Labor. 

dren  in  sorrow,  and  in  death  :  and  )"0u,  why  do 
you  not  keep  the  commandment  which  concerns 
you  ?  Give  your  children  bread  earned  by  )'our 
own  labor."*  In  brief,  you  cannot  reply  to 
that,  and  you  are  left  like  a  fish  gasping  on  the 
sand. 

165.  How  blind  you  are,  O  wise  man!  You 
search  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  all  your  eyes, 
but  you  cannot  see  there  the  way  to  relieve 
yourself  and  the  flock  that  God  has  confided  to 
your  care  from  the  burden  of  sin.  You  do  not 
see  the  path  that  will  conduct  you  to  life 
eternal.  You  are  like  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom 
who  were  struck  with  blindness  when  they 
sought  for  Lot's   door.f     But   these  were   in- 

*  Compare  these  reflections  of  Bondareff's  with  Tolstoi's 
ideas  in  the  admirable  chapter  ' '  To  Women  !"  which  completes 
the  book  What  should  be  done: 

"This  woman,  who,  with  all  the  attraction  of  her  personal 
charms,  still  evades  her  own  duties  under  the  law  of  mother- 
hood, becomes  a  fit  companion  for  the  man  who  has  denied  the 
obligations  of  his  own  law  of  labor;  and  they  thus  both  lose 
the  true  meaning  and  intention  of  their  existence. 

"From  this  proceeds  the  astonishing  folly  called  the  rights 
of  women.     These  rights  we  here  formulate. 

"  '  Ah,  you  men,'  says  woman,  '  you  transgress  your  own 
law  of  labor,  but  you  wish  us  to  fulfil  ours.  Truly  no  !  As 
it  is  with  you,  it  shall  be  with  us.  We  will  share  your  pre- 
ccnded  labors  at  banks,  universities,  and  academies  ;  and  we 
will,  like  you,  adopt  the  pretext  of  division  of  labor,  and  will 
have  a  hand  in  all  the  social  and  worldly  occupations  that  we 
please.'  "     (  What  should  be  done,  page  372.) 

f  Alluding  to  Genesis  xix.  10,  11:  "  But  the  men  put  forth 
their  hand,  and  pulled  Lot  into  the  house  to  them,  and  shut  to 
the  door.     And  they  smote  the  men  that  were  at  the  door  of 


Labor.  1 29 

deed  blinded ;  while  you,  though  sightless, 
believe  that  you  see  clearly,  and  that  you  know 
everything,  and  no  one  has  the  right  to  give 
you  counsel.  Your  blindness  is  like  that  of 
Balaam,  who  did  not  see  the  angel  of  God  that 
stood  armed  with  a  flaming  sword  in  the  path 
before  him,  while  the  ass  that  he  was  riding 
perceived  it  distinctly.  I  am  the  ass ;  and  you, 
who  are  Balaam,  have  ridden  upon  my  back 
since  my  childhood. 

166.  From  all  that  has  been  said,  we  see,  as  in 
a  mirror,  that  man  learns  to  read,  not  that  he 
may  do  good,  but  evil.  The  proverb  is  not 
without  reason  which  says  :  "  If  educated  people 
should  lose  their  eyes  [and  I,  BondarefF,  as  well 
as  they],  and  their  horses  should  founder,  we 
should  then  be  the  better." 

I  did  not  formerly  believe  in  proverbs,  but  now 
I  see  that  it  is  as  though  God  himself  had  given 
them  to  us. 

167.  The  world  has  a  thousand  religions, 
while  there-  should  be  but  one  faith,  even  as 
there  is  but  one  God. 

The  first  commandment,  "  In  the  sweat  of 
thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread,"  would  unite 
all  religions.  When  men  shall  have  compre- 
hended all  its  import,  and  shall  have  it  graven 
upon  their  hearts,  then,  in  one  century,  perhaps 
even  in  less  time,  all  the  world,  from  east  to  west, 
from   north    to   south,    will    be   united   in    one 

the  house  with  blindness,  both  small  and  great,  so  that  they 
wearied  themselves  to  find  the  door." 


1 30  Labor. 

faith,  one  church,  and  one  love.     (See  article 

35-) 

168.  Many  people  have  asked  me:  Why  do 
you  regard  those  who  avoid  labor,  not  only 
without  good  will,  but  even  with  hatred? 
Whatever  you  feel  in  your  heart,  you  should  at 
least  speak  with  gentleness  and  kindness. 

This  is  my  answer:  Where  could  I  find  pa- 
tience and  hypocrisy  enough  to  speak  with 
gentleness  and  kindness?  How  many  millions 
oi  people  there  are  at  this  moment,  how  many 
there  have  been  since  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
and  will  be  yet  in  the  future,  who  have  been  and 
will  be  ignominiously  wronged  by  you  who  are 
the  masters  of  the  world  !  In  this  state  of  affairs, 
I  do  not  say  a  man,  but  an  angel  even,  could 
not  bear  such  offences,  and  the  recital  alone  of 
our  miseries  would  "  set  his  teeth  on  edge."  * 
And  I,  who  am  but  a  man,  have  endured  this 
wrong  for  a  long  time.  Many  times  I  would 
have  spoken  gently,  but  the  moment  I  commence 
to  write,  I  am  so  inflamed  with  indignation  that 
I  forget  all  my  resolutions.  And  I  have  said  to 
myself,  I  can  die  but  once;  I  have  started  upon 
the  right  way,  and  I  will  go  forward. 

169.  I  address  myself  once  more  to  you,  O 
ye  of  the  upper  classes.  I  do  not  entreat,  I  do 
not  ask,  but  I  strongly  require  of  you  that  you 
shall  give  us  our  due,  that  you  shall  teach  us  the 
primitive  law  that  God  himself  gave  to  us  la- 

*  An  expression  often  used  in  the  Bible. 


Labor.  131 

borers  when  he  created  the  world.  You  have 
taken  it  from  us  by  fraud  or  by  violence,  and 
you  have  hidden  it  in  the  depths  of  the  earth, 
like  the  slothful  servant  in  the  Gospel  who  hid 
his  talent  in  the  ground.  Give  it  back  to  us 
now,  without  delay;  give  it  back!  We  will  take 
no  excuse. 

Those  who  preceded  you  had  some  reason  to 
keep  this  law  to  themselves,  because  no  one 
asked  them  for  it ;  the  welfare  of  others  matters 
little  to  strangers. 

But,  now,  give  us  this  law,  or  at  least  explain 
it  to  us. 

170.  You  all  give  us  the  same  excuse.  It  is 
not  I  who  am  to  blame,  says  one;  nor  I,  says 
another;  nor  I,  says  a  third:  and  the  nor  I  will 
never  finish :  but  who  will  say.  It  is  I?  If  we 
address  the  chief  men  of  the  State,  they  say  also, 
we  are  not  to  blame.  In  a  word,  the  universe 
has  become,  as  it  were,  a  perfect  circle,  where 
no  one  is  on  the  circumference,  and  all  the 
world  are  in  the  centre.  Ask  this  one  or  that, 
and  he  answers  invariabl}^  //  is  not  I ! 

If  the  question  were  of  boasting,  of  raising  one- 
self to  the  clouds,  or  of  riding  on  the  backs  of 
poor  people,  you  will  all  cry,  //  is  I!  It  is  I! 
But  if  we  speak  of  holding  out  the  hand  to  the 
millions  Avho  are  perishing  in  misery,  //  is  not  L 
you  sa}'  at  once.  Who  among  3-011  will  say  //  // 
Though  our  emperor,  Alexander  Nicolai'e witch, 
has  delivered  us  from  slavery,  that  has  nothing 


132  Labor. 

to  do,  in  my  mind,  with  the  question  that  occu- 
pies us  ;  it  is  quite  another  affair. 
p    171.  We  should,  without  doubt,  persuade  men 
■■   by  good  advice,   and   by  divers  warnings,  but 
.  never  bv  force.     Print  these  counsels  in  primers 
\  and    prayer-books,    charge    the    priests    of    all 
I  nations  and  of  all  religions,  to  preach  this  doc- 
trine unceasingly,  by  persuasion  and  not  by  force, 
and  to  recall  to  their  flocks  the  qualities  which 
\  distinguish  before  God  and  man  him  who  care- 
•  fully  executes  the  primitive  law  of  God,  and,  on 
ithe  contrar}^  to  point  out  the  faults  that  charac- 
terize him  who  shamefully  avoids  its  execution. 
/These  are  the  means  by  which,  to  my  mind,  we 
I  shall  force   men  to    labor,  without  emplojdng 
violence. 

But  excepting  the  government,  who  would 
have  the  power  to  do  what  I  have  said  ?  No 
one. 

172.  If  all  these  counsels  were  inserted  in  the 
daily  papers,  and  in  other  publications,  under 
different  forms,  we  might  wait  as  many  thou- 
sands of  years  as  there  are  days  in  a  century, 
and  no  profit  would  result.     (See  article  36.) 

173.  Implore,  my  soul!  (and  by  my  soul  I 
mean  the  souls  of  all  laborers)  implore  the  gov- 
ernment as  much  as  you  will,  shed  all  your 
tears,  multiply  your  groanings,  bend  your  knees 
to  whom  you  will,  but  no  one  will  be  touched 
by  your  supplications,  or  moved  by  your  tears. 
I  know  my  double  demand  has  been  made  in 
vain.     If  they  had  but  said  yes  or  no,  I  would 


Labor.  133 

have  been  more  content;  but  they  have  said  noth- 
ing! nothing!* 

Ah!  deign,  O  Eternal  Father, from  the  height 
of  heaven  to  cast  one  look  upon  the  earth ! 

Behold!  there  is  but  one  man,  who  by  one 
single  word  can  oppress  millions  of  men  !f 

*  Compare  these  reflections  of  Bondareff's  with  those  of  the 
celebrated  sectary  Soutalef.  "If  the  Czar  knew!"  said  Sou- 
talef  to  a  throng  of  his  followers.  One  day  he  departed  for  St. 
Petersburg ;  he  would  inform  the  Czar.  Vain  task :  they 
would  not  let  him  approach  him.  The  unfortunate  reformer 
was  obliged  to  return  to  his  own  village,  accusing  himself  of 
sin  for  failing  in  perseverance."  (A.  Leroy-Beaulieu,  Revue 
des  Deux-Mondes,  Sept.  15,  i883,  page  426.) 

f  Probably  alluding  to  the  Czar. 


APPENDICES. 


Zo  tbe  /IDemor^  ot  Bonbarett 


LABOR  AND  LOFE, 

BONDAREFF'S  WILL. 
I. 

Love  of  our  neighbor  is  the  principal  com- 
mandment. It  is  the  commandment  of  com- 
mandments, the  law  of  laws,  the  virtue  of  virtues. 
There  is  no  other  virtue  like  it,  neither  in  hea- 
ven nor  on  the  earth.  No  other  possesses  the 
hundredth  part  of  its  perfection  ;  and  in  saying 
this,  I  do  not  mean  to  depreciate  existing  laws 
and  commandments,  but  only  to  give  love  its 
full  value. 

II. 

And  now,  I  ask  yon,  which  is  the  most  useful 
to  man  and  the  most  agreeable  to  God,  labor 
or  love?  Labor  beyond  a  doubt.  But  there 
is  onlv  one  labor  that  is  more  useful  than  love, 
and  that  is  the  labor  that  is  done  by  virtue  of 
the  commandment,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face 
shalt  thou  knead  bread."  This  is  the  only  labor 
that  is  more  useful  to  man  and  more  agreeable 
to  God  than  love.  Without  it  all  others  are 
useless,  and  even  hurtful. 

in. 

But  it  has  never  happened  that  any  one  has 
labored  by  virtue  of  this  commandment,  that  is, 

134 


Labor  ajid  Love.  135 

not  to  satisfy  his  desire  for  food,  but  to  obey 
the  law  (for  it  is  thus  that  I,  Bondareff,  interpret 
this  expression  in  Genesis) ;  neither  has  any  one 
ever  known  the  joy  this  labor  produces,  and 
therefore  there  can  be  none  among  you,  O  my 
readers,  that  can  disprove  my  words,  when  I 
claim  that  labor  is  more  useful  than  the  love  of 
our  neighbor. 

IV. 

And  here  is  the  proof.  I  have  found  at  each 
instant,  and  in  all  books,  praises  in  honor  of  love 
for  others.  They  laud  it,  among  all  people, 
among  savages  even,  in  all  languages  and  dia- 
lects. They  honor  it  in  proverbs  and  sayings, 
they  make  it  the  foundation  of  all  civil  and  re- 
ligious law.  Preachers  are  wearied  in  celebrat- 
ing its  praises.  But,  I  ask  you,  have  these 
praises  and  sermons  in  honor  of  love  for  others 
borne  any  fruit,  or  resulted  in  any  virtuous  ac- 
tions? Never!  It  is  not  only  with  love  that 
we  can  feed  the  hungry,  satisfy  the  thirsty, 
clothe  the  poor,  give  alms  to  mendicants,  help 
the  widow,  or  do  good  to  the  orphan,  etc. 


If  men  would  only  help  each  other,  and 
have  compassion  for  the  misfortunes  of  others  ; 
but  no,  they  will  steal,  kill,  burn,  pillage, 
and  deceive  one  another,  they  will  detest  and 
wish  each  other  all  manner  of  evil ;  they  will 
set  traps  and  snares  for  each  other,  they  will 
commit  wilful  murder ;  and,  to  sum  up  all,  if  they 
did  not  fear  the  authorities,  and  if  there  were  no 
sermons  in  the  world,  they  would  eat  each  other 
alive.  These  are  the  results  which  the  praises 
of  love  for  others  and  the  sermons  in  its  honor 


1 36  Labor  and  Love. 

produce ;  and  if  sometimes  one  does  good  to 
another,  he  is  influenced  by  the  instinct  that 
binds  us  together  and  not  by  love. 

VI. 

Why  do  they  not  appreciate  this  love  for 
others?  My  reply  will  be  brief:  Although  love 
is  an  excellent  virtue,  it  is  narrow  and  secondary  ; 
and  besides  that,  labor,  properly  speaking,  in- 
cludes love,  while  love  does  not  include  labor. 
We  may  add  that  labor  was  created  by  God  in 
the  terrestrial  paradise,  while  this  love  came  to 
the  world  four  thousand  years  afterwards,  with 
Moses.  We  see  now  clearly  why  labor  is  the 
first  of  all  virtues,  and  the  base  of  all  laws. 
Love  without  labor  is  like  a  man  without  a  head, 
it  is  dead.  Love  is  therefore  a  narrow,  secon- 
dary virtue. 

vn. 

To  prove  still  further  what  I  have  advanced, 
I  propose  to  you  to  make  this  essay :  Suppress 
and  erase  all  the  passages  in  Holy  Scripture 
which  rest  on  love  for  our  neighbor,  and  replace 
them  by  the  explanation  of  this  law,  "  In  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shaft  thou  knead  bread." 
Make  known  these  modified  passages,  and  soon, 
before  the  close  of  the  day,  all  men  will  be  led, 
in  spite  of  themselves,  to  love  their  neighbor. 
It  is  in  bread,  in  the  labor  of  the  fields,  that 
we  must  seek  for  the  love  of  others.  It  is 
to  demonstrate  the  force  of  this  law  that  the 
laborer  should  direct  his  endeavors,  if  he  be 
not  also  a  sluggard.  Idleness  and  luxury  are, 
on  the  contrary,  the  principal  enemies  of  social 
love.  But  you  who  have  never  labored,  have 
never  tasted  the  joys  which  attend  the  accom- 


Labor  and  Love.  137 

plishment  of  the  law  and  of  the  labor  it  requires ; 
thus  you  cannot  believe  my  words.  It  is  my 
duty  to  speak  them  ;  with  you  it  rests  to  beheve 
or  to  deny  them, 

VIII. 

Then  I  pray  you,  my  readers,  to  preserve 
these  words,  and  to  fix  them  in  your  hearts: 
Labor  done  according  to  the  primitive  law  is  the 
condition  of  love  for  others.  Labor  is  strong 
without  love;  it  can,  by  itself,  win  for  man  the 
highest  prize  he  can  attain  before  God,  whilst 
love  without  the  aid  of  labor  can  do  nothing, 
because,  as  we  have  already  said,  true  love 
freed  from  all  hypocrisy,  is  concealed  in  labor ; 
but  without  labor,  love  is  dead.  Love  your 
neighbor  and  esteem  him,  but  above  all,  O  you 
who  preach  love,  do  not  eat  the  bread"  of  his 
labor.  Again,  the  preachers  have  exhausted 
their  strength,  worn  out  their  throats,  and 
fatigued  their  tongues  in  preaching  love,  and 
what  has  been  the  result  ?  Love  does  not  exist 
anywhere. 

IX. 

If  love  reigned  in  the  world,  would  the  present 
state  of  things  exist?  In  creating  heaven  and 
earth,  God  has  given  forever,  to  us  laborers, 
and  not  to  sluggards  with  white  hands,  this 
unchangeable  law  :  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow 
shalt  thou  knead  bread."  God  has  based  on 
this  law  both  temporal  and  eternal  happiness. 

The  supreme  lawgivers,  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  world,  have  taken  from  us  bv  fraud 
or  by  violence  this  precious  treasure.  Having 
stolen  it,  they  have  buried  it  deep  in  the  earth, 
like  the  slothful  servant  in  the  Gospel  who  hid 


138  Labor  and  Love. 

his  talent.  During  all  these  past  ages,  we,  the 
laborers,  have  not  perceived  our  loss.  Amid 
the  innumerable  cares  of  life,  we  have  over- 
looked it,  and  it  is  only  to-day  that  we  think  of 
it.  The  thief  is  now  discovered  ;  we  have  found 
the  guilty  one,  and  have  unveiled  his  crime  be- 
fore the  entire  universe.  What  do  you  desire? 
they  ask  me.  Give  up  the  treasure  that  God 
has  given  thee  ?  No,  I  will  guard  it  well !  The 
prey  which  the  wolf  holds  in  his  teeth,  says  the 
proverb,  was  given  him  by  J^gor  (Georges). 
What !  you  preach  in  every  tone  of  love  for 
others,  and  you  commit  like  crimes  yourself! 
And  why?     My  question  is  worth  answering. 

X. 

If  love  reigned  in  the  world,  would  twenty- 
four  millions  of  men  be  placed  under  the  author- 
ity of  lords,  as  it  is  tiiis  day  among  us,  and  as  it 
has  been  for  a  long  time?  If  love  reigned  in 
the  world,  would  the  fertile  earth  have  been 
given  forever  to  sluggards,  whilst  men,  and 
still  worse,  infants,  are  each  day  in  danger  of 
dying  for  want  of  food  ?  But  these  lords,  these 
masters  of  the  earth  which  they  have  appropri- 
ated since  the  creation  of  the  woiM  (thence 
has  come  the  word  "  property  "),  sell  it  to  others 
at  a  great  price,  and  then  throw  away  the  money 
at  cards,  or  spend  it  in  unheard-of  caprices. 
Such  is  the  depth  of  their  love  for  others ! 

XI. 

The  sixth  day  God  said :  "  Behold,  I  have 
given  you  every  herb  bearing  seed,  which  is 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  every  tree,  in 
the  which  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  yielding  seed  ; 
to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat."     But  the  greater 


Labor  and  Love.  1 39 

part  of  mankind  will  not  submit  to  the  com- 
mand that  they  should  till  the  earth  ;  they  put 
this  painful  labor  on  the  defenceless  poor  man, 
whilst  they  walk  to  and  fro  whistling  and  with 
their  arms  folded.  If,  at  least,  they  had  only 
given  to  the  poor  the  labor  for  bread,  it  might 
be  borne  ;  but  they  have  heaped  upon  him  all 
sorts  of  painful  labors,  and  he  even  pays  for  the 
privileges  of  doing  them  !  I  do  not  speak  of 
taxes,  but  of  rents,  and  the  services  of  all  sorts 
with  which  they  overwhelm  him.  This  is  done  in 
the  name  of  the  law.  Not  content  with  making 
him  submit  to  these  wrongs,  they  take  from 
him  the  fertile  earth.  They  have  given  that  for- 
ever into  the  hands  of  those  who  evade  labor, 
and  they  call  that  for  which  they  have  never 
labored,  their  property. 

This  is  the  love  for  our  neighbor  which  you 
preach  but  never  practise  ! 


XII. 

Many  times  I  have  resolved  to  speak  to  you 
more  affectionately  ;  but  when  I  behold  your 
treachery,  I  forget  all  my  resolves. 

We  see  clearly  that  between  the  primitive 
law  of  labor  and  the  civil  and  religious  laws 
which  exist  there  comes  the  eternal  enmity  that 
separated  the  serpent  and  the  woman.  But  be- 
tween these  two  classes  of  men,  the  laborers  on 
the  one  side  and  those  who  evade  labor  on  the 
other,  there  exists  an  enmitv  created  bv  God 
himself  and  not  by  man.  They  say  there  is 
this  difference  between  the  primitive  law  and 
later  laws,  that  the  first  was  given  to  man  by 
God  as  a  penance  lor  his  sins,  and  we  know 
that  God  has  not  ordered  us  to  atone  for  our 
crimes  by  any  other  virtue  or  merit.     But  if 


140  Labor  and  Love. 

this  be  so,  why  is  not  labor  prescribed  by  law 
and  tradition  as  indispensable  to  salvation? 
Thus  we  are  tempted  to  think  that  God's  de- 
cree is  not  just;  and  for  this  reason  I  have  said 
that  there  is  enmity  between  these  two  sorts  of 
law.  Besides  that,  since  the  days  of  Adam, 
there  have  been  milHons  of  laborers;  was  there 
never  among- them  one  single  man  who  was  good 
and  acceptable  to  God  ? 

The  question  is  of  importance.  But  instead 
of  solving  it,  writers  who  are  more  competent 
than  I  am,  speak  of  the  progress  of  labor  and  of 
idleness,  without  designating  any  one.  Thus 
have  they  always  neglected,  and  will  do  so  till 
the  end  of  the  world,  the  discussion  of  idleness 
and  labor. 

XIII. 

Here  is  a  new  argument  to  prove  that  labor, 
accomplished  in  conformity  with  the  primitive 
law,  is  more  useful  than  love  for  others.  If  you 
speak  of  this  love  to  an  ignorant  man.  or  to  one 
but  slightly  educated,  he  will  not  listen  to  you. 
You  will  see  that  in  his  eyes  and  in  the  expres- 
sion of  his  face:  he  puts  on  a  dejected  air,  he  is 
drowsy,  he  yawns,  and  is  weary.  He  endeavors 
to  lead  the  conversation  to  other  subjects,  or 
will  tell  you  he  is  in  haste ;  he  prepares  to  de- 
part, and  what  you  have  said  he  will  not,  or  can- 
n*)t,  understand.  It  was  useless  to  engage  him 
in  such  a  conversation. 

I  have  witnessed  all  that  myself.  I  have  not 
invented  it. 

XIV. 

When,  in  reading  passages  of  Genesis  to  a 
man,  you  arrive  at  these  words,  "  In  the  sweat 


Labor  and  Love.  141 

of  thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread,"  explain 
them  to  him  bv  saying  that  this  penance  was 
decreed  by  God  for  original  as  well  as  for  actual 
sin.  Add  that  God,  when  creating  hea\en  and 
earth,  has  not  given  us  any  other  way  of  atoning 
for  our  sins,  etc.  etc.  Soon  your  interlocutor  will 
look  at  you  in  amazement;  he  will  no  longer 
be  drowsy,  or  weary,  or  dejected,  he  will  even 
forget  that  they  wait  for  him  at  home.  Then  he 
will  look  down,  embarrassed  by  these  truths  of 
which  he  had  never  dreamed,  and  by  the  re- 
membrance of  all  his  actions  since  his  youth,  for 
which  he  had  not  thought  God  reserved  for  him. 
such  penalties. 

1  know,  reader,  that  )^ou  will  not  give  any 
faith  to  my  words.  But  I  swear  before  God 
that  they  are  true. 

XV. 

He  will  presently  raise  his  eyes,  and  show  that 
reason  has  awakened  within  him.  Then  he  will 
ask  questions,  and  return  each  instant  to  the  sub- 
ject. Afterwards  he  will  repeat  to  his  friends 
what  he  has  learned,  and  the  story  vvill  go  from 
one  to  another.  Why,  then,  would  he  not  listen 
when  love  for  others  was  spoken  of  ?  That  seems 
mysterious. 

XVI. 

Observe  always  that  only  the  laborers  will 
approve  of  your  words.'  As  for  those  who  avoid 
labor, — and  they  are  numerous  in  the  world, — 
they  will  dispute  your  arguments,  word  for  word  ; 
and  as  a  crowning  refutation  of  them,  under  the 
painful  circumstances  in  which  they  ai^e  placed, 
they  will  show  you  the  money  they  have  taken 


142  Labor  and  Love. 

from  the  poor  laborers,  which  ihey  pretend  they 
will  use  in  their  aid.  You  know  well,  readers, 
that,  whatever  may  be  the  subject  under  discus- 
sion, the  rich  always  gain  their  point.  It  has 
always  been  so,  and  always  will  be  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  as  says  Sirach,  the  man  who  was 
inspired  by  God  :  "  When  a  rich  man  speaketh, 
every  man  holdeth  his  tongue,  and  look,  what 
he  saith  they  extol  it  to  the  clouds  :  but  if  the 
poor  man  speak,  they  say.  What  fellow  is  this  ?" 


XVII. 

Have  I  not  proved,  beyond  dispute,  that  love 
without  labor  is  dead,  and  that  labor,  accom- 
plished according  to  the  commandment,  can  live 
alone  without  the  aid  of  love?  Love  is  hidden 
in  labor:  labor  is  the  home  in  which  love  dwells. 
Love  without  labor  is  as  the  body  without  soul. 
The  law  lives  only  when  its  power  is  used  for 
man's  profit ;  otherwise  it  is  dead.  Besides  that, 
the  law  lives  only  for  those  who  accomplish  it 
willingl3%  and  not  for  those  who  refuse  to  sub- 
mit to  labor  with  all  their  heart.  And  in  fine, 
the  sluggards — w'ho  are  truly  criminal — are 
dead  to  the  law  as  it  is  dead  to  them. 

As  for  love  to  others,  we  will  not  speak  of  it 
here. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  explain  to  the  world 
the  law  of  Iab(;r,  that  T  have  only  learned  by 
myself,  and  that  no  one  has  taught  me.  1  have 
comprehended  its  truth  with  my  whole  soul. 
You  deny,  and  you  will  deny  forever,  that  it  is 
gifted  with  a  force  that  will,  one  day,  unite  all 
men  in  one  faith,  one  church,  and  one  love,  be- 
cause it  is  the  chief  of  all  virtues.     You  would 


Labor  and  Love.  1 43 

gain,  O  you  of  the  upper  classes,  by  holding  in 
your  hands  the  head  of  all  virtue,  whereas  you 
now  hold  only  its  tail — and  by  tail  1  mean  love. 
Love  itself  creates  your  words,  but  not  your 
actions.  And  why?  Because  your  money  has 
so  blinded  you  that  you  cannot  discern  the  head 
from  the  tail. 

XVIII. 

Could  you  believe,  readers,  that  he  who  shall 
have  welcomed  the  law  of  labor  with  the  eager- 
ness that  1  have  described  would  do  to  others 
what  he  would  not  have  them  do  to  him  ? 
Would  he  take,  by  any  means  whatever,  the 
goods  of  another  ?  Can  we  suppose  that,  having 
resolved  to  eat  the  bread  for  which  he  has  la- 
bored with  his  own  hands,  and  to  live  an  honest 
life,  he  will  retain  whatever  he  may  have  ac- 
quired dishonestly?  No,  we  cannot  imagine 
such  inconsistency. 

Could  a  man,  whose  conscience  is  so  pure,  re- 
frain from  holding  out  a  helping  hand  to  his 
neighbor,  or,  in  other  words,  could  he  behold 
one  who  is  an  hungered  and  not  feed  him,  or  one 
who  is  dying  of  thirst  and  not  give  him  to  drink, 
or  a  weary  traveller  and  not  give  him  rest  in 
his  own  house,  etc.,  etc.  ?  A  pure  conscience 
has  the  eyes  not  of  a  man,  but  of  an  angel. 
Nothing  can  escape  them. 

XIX. 

For  him  who  has  not  tasted  the  joy  ot  labor 
that  is  accomplished  conformably  with  the  prim- 
itive law  that  God  himself  has  given  us  wiien 
creating  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  it  is  difficult, 
very  difficult  in  fact,  to  believe  what  I  have  been 


144  Labor  and  Love. 

saying.  But  in  claiming  that  labor,  blessed  by 
God,  is  a  hundred  times  more  useful  than  love, 
I  but  use  a  right  that  belongs  to  me.  You  ma}" 
approve  or  disapprove  of  ray  opinions.  But  to 
judge  which  of  us  is  right  or  wrong,  God  and 
the  Czar  only  have  the  right. 


XX. 

My  readers  will  say,  or  at  least  think  to  them- 
selves. How  is  that?  All  the  universe  and  the 
highest  authority  are  founded  on  love  for  others, 
as  a  mountain  rests  upon  the  rocks,  for  there  is 
not  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  a  more  elevated 
virtue  than  love  for  our  neighbor.  But  alas! 
behold  how  this  edifice  suddenly  falls  down,  f(jr 
they  have  here  and  there  undermined  its  base; 
in  short,  love  for  others  is  dead.  Love  is  the 
least,  and  not  the  greatest  of  these  virtues.  If 
we  eat  without  good  reason  the  bread  of  others, 
and  thus  disobey  the  primitive  law,  love  is  then 
a  virtue  without  any  value.  But,  some  readers 
will  say,  we  have  centred  our  hopes  in  money, 
as  on  God,  believing  that  we  will  secure  both 
temporal  and  eternal  happiness ;  now  this  Bon- 
dareff  does  not  esteem  money,  and  he  exacts 
personal  labor.  Must  we. tell  him  he  lies?  But 
we  cannot  base  our  opinions  on  legitimate  rea- 
sons. Man's  inconstant  fortune  rests  always  on" 
a  tottering  throne;  and  he  does  not  know  when, 
or  from  what  side,  it  will  bc'^overthrown.  When 
the  moment  comes  in  which  their  fortune  shall 
perish,  my  readers  will  say  and  think  that  the 
proverb  is  true  which  says  :  "  The  thunder  does 
not  always  come  from  the  clouds,  but  often  from 
a  heap  of  dust." 


Labor  and  Love.  145 

XXI. 

Even  as  the  universe  could  not  live  without 
God,  it  also  cannot  live  without  bread,  and 
therefore  not  without  laborers.  It  is  evident 
that  after  God  and  bread  the  laborer  comes  in 
the  third  rank,  for  on  this  triple  foundation  rests 
all  the  world,  as  we  will  show  clearly  in  the 
following-  articles. 

XXII. 

God  is  a  Spirit  who  is  present  everywhere,  in 
heaven,  on  earth,  and  beneath  the  earth.  But 
which  is  his  usual  habitation  ?  This  is  a  question 
not  yet  resolved  at  this  day.  But  it  is  evident  to 
any  reasonable  man  that,  without  doubt,  God's 
principal  habitation  is  with  bread  and  with  the 
laborer.  Suppress  one  of  these  three  existences, 
God,  or  bread,  or  the  laborer,  and  soon  the  uni- 
verse will  disappear. 

XXIII. 

Can  we  not  now  affirm  that  tne  second  one  of 

this  trinity  will  truly  save  our  souls  from  death  ? 
We  would  not  commit  a  sin  in  calling  it  the  first 
trinity,  for  that  which  is  formed  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  universally 
accepted.  One  half  of  the  world  believes  it, 
and  the  other  half  does  not,  making  of  God  but 
one  person.  If  all  the  world  recognized  the 
trinity  of  which  I  speak,  which  is  composed  of 
God,  bread,  and  the  laborer,  they  would  with- 
out doubt  admit  that  these  three  are  contained 
in  one  God. 

XXIV. 

And  now  what  do  you  think,  readers,  would 
happen  if  all  the  laborers  understood  my  words  .^ 


I4<5  Labor  and  Love. 

They  would  not  fly  beyond  the  clouds,  nor 
hasten  to  seek  other  labors,  or  other  virtues.  By 
cultivating  the  earth,  they  will  enrich  themselves, 
and  they  will  heap  up  gold  for  you  also,  O,  ye 
rich  ones !  You  cannot  deny  that  all  your  joys 
depend  on  our  labor:  without  it  you  could  not 
be  happy.  But  what  will  you  do  to  restrict  all 
these  men  to  cultivating  the  earth?  It  is  im- 
possible to  do  so.  Ah !  pity  and  deplore  the 
misfortune  of  a  laborer  who  sows  good  seed  in 
a  sterile  soil,  and  gathers  no  harvest !  It  is  I 
who  am  this  laborer;  the  good  seed  is  the  first 
commandment  of  God,  with  its  consequences ; 
the  sterile  soil,  those  hearts  of  3'ours,  that  amid 
all  the  comforts  of  the  world,  turn  with  disgust 
from  the  labor  that  God  has  imposed  on  all. 


XXV. 

I  return  once  more  to  what  1  said  just  now. 
If  God  is,  above  all,  present  with  bread  and 
with  the  laborer,  it  seems  to  me  reasonable  that 
we  should  revere  bread  as  we  do  God  himself, 
and  honor  the  laborer  as  the  most  precious  of 
his  creatures  in  heaven  or  on  the  earth.  (I  do 
not  speak  of  myself,  already  so  old,  who  could 
only  join  in  honoring  the  others.)  To-day  the 
price  of  bread  is  fixed  at  one  rouble  and  forty 
kopecks  the  measure,  while  its  real  value  cannot 
be  understood  by  the  human  mind.  Once 
more,  it  must  never  be  sold,  and  only  in  extra- 
ordiniry  cases  can  it  be  given  away.  Bread  is 
estimited  at  one  rouble  and  forty  kopecks,  and 
the  laborer  is  quoted  at  a  still  lower  price.  He 
standvS  at  zero.  And  yet  he  is  one  of  the  three 
persons  in  this  one  and  indivisible  trinity  which 
saves  us  from  death. 


Labor  and  Love.  147 

XXVI. 

God  could,  I  grant,  nourish  man  without 
liaving  need  of  bread  or  of  the  laborer;  but  to 
do  that,  he  would  be  obliged  to  change  all  the 
plan  of  the  world,  and  to  withdraw  the  decree 
he  pronounced  when  creating  the  heavens  and 
the  earth.  He  must  destroy  his  creation,  be- 
cause its  laws  would  no  longer  have  any  value. 
But  for  whom  should  he  do  this?  For  the 
sluggards?  No,  no  !  I  repeat,  God,  bread,  and 
the  laborer  form  the  true  and  indivisible  trinity 
which  saves  us  from  death. 

XXVII. 

It  is  for  me  to  ask  whether  or  no  a  thing  is 
useful  for  the  common  good  ;  and  it  is  for  you 
to  answer  me  or  not,  as  you  will.  Wh}',  then, 
I  ask  you,  do  you  treat  the  laborer  as  an  im- 
becile^ an  idiot,  or  a  fool,  and  scorn  the  great- 
ness of  his  merits  who  eats  the  bread  of  his  own 
labor,  and  preserves  from  famishing  other  men 
as  well  as  the  animals?  We  are  fools,  I  admit, 
fools  in  all  the  force  of  the  term.  But  it  is  this: 
the  more  we  are  instructed,  so  much  the  more  we 
make  progress  ;  but  we  cannot  attain  the  limit  of 
progress  which  is  perfection.  During  this  life 
man  cannot  reach  the  limit  of  science,  but  after 
death  he  will  at  once  attain  perfection. 

XXVIII. 

And  further,  the  more  a  man  is  educated,  the 
better  he  perceives  his  intellectual  defects. 
Since,  then,  you  look  down  upon  the  man  who 
n  >urishes  himself  by  his  labor,  as  well  as  his  fel- 
low-creatures, and  also  the  animals,  what,  I  pray 
you,  will  you  call  him  who,  far  from  nourishing 


148  Labor  and  Love. 

any  one  else,  lives  in  idleness,  on  the  labor  of 
others,  and  who,  as  it  were,  turns  the  blood  of  the 
poor  into  money  ?  Will  you  call  him  a  brig-and  ? 
No;  a  brigand  falls  by  the  sentence  of  the  law, 
whilst  this  man  is  esteemed  and  elevated  to  su- 
preme greatness.  You  have  bestowed  on  us  all 
humiliating  epithets;  what  have  you  reserved 
for  the  sluggard?  But  why  do  1  thus  interro- 
gate you?  A  stone  might  answer  me,  but  you, 
my  readers,  will  not. 

XXIX. 

If  a  great  famine  were  inflicted  upon  Russia 
during  one  year  only,  every  one  would  die 
of  hunger.  But  where  is  the  wheat  of  which 
there  was  an  excess  in  the  preceding  years,  and 
which  they  (the  imbeciles)  have  stored  up? 
The  intelligent  ones  have  eaten  it,  is  the  reply. 
Can  we  believe  an  intelligent  man  would  com- 
mit such  a  crime?  To  eat  the  bread  of  the 
ingnorant,  to  trample  under  foot  the  love  of  our 
neighbor,  and  the  primitive  law — it  is  almost 
incredible ! 

XXX. 

Desire  for  food  is  man's  strongest  inclination, 
yet  what  he  most  disdains  is  labor  for  bread. 
There  are  actually  in  Russia  millions  of  children 
whom  they  teach  to  read,  that  they  may  be  free 
from  this  labor,  and  that  they  ma}'  eat  bread  for 
nothing;  that  is  to  say,  to  ride  on  the  backs  of 
poor  laborers.  If  that  were  not  their  intention, 
they  would  never  consent  to  be  instructed,  and 
their  parents  would  not  let  them  go  to  school. 
Not  to  be  willing  to  live  without  doing  any- 
thing   would    seem    to   them    as     a    crime,    a 


Labor  and  Love.  1.49 

suicide!     So  they  do  not  labor:    that  condition 
is  too  shameful. 

Whence  comes  this  state  of  things'*  From 
their  not  explaining  the  divine  law  "  In  the  sweat 
of  thy  face  shalt  thou  knead  bread,"  to  young 
and  intelligent  minds,  and  from  its  not  being 
placed  in  books  of  science.  For  by  this  means 
men  would  have  comprehended  from  their 
youth,  that  they  must  compel  themselves  to  eat 
the  bread  of  their  own  labor,  and  to  live  honestly. 

XXXI. 

They  do  not  speak  of  labor,  that  virtue  of 
virtues,  in  the  primers  or  in  the  books  of  high 
science.  The  masters  make  no  allusion  to  it, 
because  they  themselves  live  in  idleness.  Thus 
the  child  can  learn  nothing  that  is  good,  in  the 
schools.  He  will  be  like  the  earthen  vessel, 
which  retains  always  the  odor  of  the  first  liquid 
it  has  contained.  Many  examples  prove  this. 
Historians  relate  that  the  Roman  emperor 
Caligula  was  so  cruel  that,  not  content  with 
taking  the  life  of  those  who  displeased  him,  he 
even  drank  the  blood  of  his  victmis.  The 
daughter  of  Darius  could  find  no  more  exquisite 
article  of  food  than  the  serpent.  How  will  you 
explain  these  facts?  Must  it  not  have  been  that 
Caligula  was  brought  up  by  a  cruel  woman, 
and  that  the  daughter  of  Darius  had  a  nurse  to 
whom  the  serpent's  flesh  was  the  daintiest  of 
food  ? 

xxxn. 

Theologians  claim  that  God  offered  the  milk 
of  wisdom  as  nourishment  for  a  child,  but  that 
the  devil  offered  him  the  milk  of  impiety.  If, 
by   fault  of  the   parents,  the  child    drank    the 


150  Labor  and  Love. 

devil's  milk,  no  other  food  could  thenceforth 
please  him.  Even  as  Caligula  loved  to  drink 
blood,  and  the  daughter  of  Darius  preferred 
the  serpent's  flesh,  so  the  child  would  ever  like 
the  devil's  food   only. 

Thence,  what  hope  can  the  laborers  have? 
We  still  must  expect  the  worst.  But  if  all 
men  learn  to  read  and  write,  who  will  nourish 
them  }  That  is  an  important  problem  that  no 
one  is  willing  to  solve. 

XXXIII. 

I  pray  you,  readers,  not  to  forget  that  I 
speak  to  you  humbly,  *  standing  with  bowed 
head  and  sad  aspect  at  the  threshold  of  your 
door.  But  you  are  occupying  the  place  of 
honor  at  the  table  where  they  serve  the  pro- 
ducts of  our  labor.  You  will  not  reply.  Is 
it  because  you  feel  that  you  are  in  every  way 
culpable  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  and 
even  before  your  own  conscience  ?  If  you  try  to 
justify  yourself,  you  will  fall  still  more  deeply 
into  sin ;  if  you  try  to  contradict  me,  your 
infatuation  will  be  an  outrage,  not  against  me, 
but  against  God,  against  bread,  and  against 
your  conscience. 

XXXIV. 

You  see  now,  you  of  the  upper  classes,  that 
the  laborer  is  your  second  father;  we  may  even 
say,  without  fear  of  sinning,  that  he  is  your 
first  father.  Remember  that  all  the  dishes 
of    which  you  eat  at  your  table  are  the  pro- 

*I  mean  that  I  speak  in  the  name  of  all  our  class,  men, 
women,  children,  and  old  persons.  I  do  not  speak  personally, 
but  in  tb»  natnt  of  my  companions. 


Labor  and  Love.  1 3 1 

ducts  of  our  labor.     In  short,  we  nourish  you 
as  a  father  nourishes  his  children. 

Nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  the  law 
than  the  excuse  you  present  in  saying,  "  I  pay 
for  my  bread."  Where  did  you  get  your 
money  ?  Is  not  this  money  that  you  keep  at 
home  with  you,  the  fruit  of  our  labor?  You 
cannot  obtain  our  pardon  unless  you  agree  with 
all  your  heart  to  eat  the  bread  of  your  own 
labor. — Impossible  !  you  reply  again  ;  how  could 
all  men  do  the  same  work  ? 


XXXV. 

The  law  of  labor  may  be  incomprehensible  if 
we  compare  it  to  that  of  love,  because  this  word 
love  alone  suffices  to  show  all  its  nature,  while  we 
need  numerous  developments  to  make  clear  the 
meaning  of  the  primitive  law.  I  have  written 
already  nearly  three  hundred  articles*  in  com- 
ment upon  it,  and  I  doubt  if  I  have  completely 
persuaded  my  readers  of  the  necessity  of  labor. 
How  can  I  present  in  few  words  all  the 
mysterious  virtue  which  belongs  to  the  law 
which  God  gave  in  creating  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  ?  Besides,  it  encounters  the  greatest 
of  obstacles  in  the  influence  of  money  which  de- 
prives this  law  of  so  much  of  its  lorce.  It  is 
money  which  renders  men  blind  and  insensible. 
Hear  them  answer  simply  :  "  I  pay  for  my 
bread !  I  pay  lor  my  bread."  That  is  their 
only  reply.  How,  then,  can  I  dispute  with 
them  ? 


*  Labor  according  to  the  Bible  contained  originally  263 
articles  or  verses.  We  have  modified  the  numeration,  so  that 
the  text  of  Bondarefl  now  contains  only  173  paragraphs. 


1 52  Labor  and  Love. 

XXXVI. 

It  is  time  to  finish  my  discourse,  or  rather  my 
sermon. 

At  the  moment  in  which  I  write,  the  govern- 
ment has  not  yet  considered  the  law  of  labor. 
It  has  not  explained  its  force  by  any  edict: 
nor  has  it  preached  to  its  subjects  the  love 
of  labor,  notwithstanding  the  urgent  requests 
that  I  have  addressed  to  it,  and  of  which  it 
takes  no  notice.  I  pity  its  blindness.  God 
is  my  witness  that  I  speak  only  the  truth. 
An  individual  is  pardonable  if  he  is  ignorant 
of  some  things  ;  but  is  it  admissible  that  the 
government  should  hide  from  the  people's 
eyes  the  greatest  happiness  that  can  be  in 
heaven  or  on  the  earth  ?  I  can  never  be- 
lieve it. 

XXXVII. 

I  have  just  been  told  that  I  will  not  be  per- 
mitted to  publish  my  sermon.  Why  ?  ist.  Be- 
cause the  administrative  authority  also  seeks  to 
escape  this  horrible  labor  lor  bread.  2d.  Be- 
cause they  hate  us  who  nourish  them.  "  Let 
these  sixty  millions  of  laborers  suffer  with 
hunger  and  cold,  so  long  as  we  and  ours  may 
be  happy  !"  And  if  you  speak  to  them  of  love 
for  our  neighbor,  they  will  respond  by  preach- 
ing philanthropy  :  but  always  in  word,  never 
in  deed ! 

XXXVIII. 

For  five  years,  now,  this  state  of  affairs  of 
which  I  speak  has  existed.     In  the  presence  of 


Labor  and  Love.  I  $3 

one   among   you  *  we  are  as   so  many  tomtits 
before  an  eagle. 

By  one  word,  one  stroke  of  his  pen,  he  can 
crush  us,  and  he  has  truly  crushed  and  annihi- 
lated us.  What  millions  of  men  he  has  op- 
pressed !  I  said  but  now,  that,  thanks  to  the 
government,  idleness  would  flourish  and  increase 
everywhere :  that  labor  and  bread  would  be 
scorned  and  debased.  It  is  done.  You  see  now 
the  truth  of  my  predictions,  and  the  exactness 
of  my  words. 

XXXIX. 

The  blood  and  the  tears  of  men  have  attested 
the  truth  of  all  the  laws,  and  all  the  command- 
ments of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  But 
in  favor  of  the  primitive  commandment,  which 
is  the  chief  of  all  the  others,  and  of  love  to  our 
neighbor,  no  one  has  shed  one  tear  or  one  drop 
of  blood  :  no  one  has  borne  witness  to  its  truth. 
This  is  why  it  has  been  reputed  as  false  ;  this 
is  the  reason  that  it  has  been  unknown  in  the 
universe,  and  that  it  has  now  been  angrily 
rejected.  Did  Jesus  Christ  affirm  it  by  his 
death  ?  No,  he  said  in  the  Gospel:  "  Behold 
the  fowls  of  the  air,  etc."  We  see  'Christ  did 
not  give  precedence  to  the  law  of  labor,  be- 
cause from  his  infancy  he  saw  in  it  little 
virtue,  and  considered  it  to  be  a  great  mis- 
fortune. 

XL. 

We  see  from  the  preceding  articles  that 
Heaven  has  designed  that  I  should  bear  witness 

*  An  evident  allusion  to  the  Czar.  It  is  to  be  noticed 
that  Bondareff  often  speaks  of  the  Czar  without  openly  nam- 
ing him. 


1 54  Labor  and  Love. 

to  this  law,  and  should  seal  its  truth  with  m\' 
blood  and  my  tears.  My  blood  is  dried  up  in  ray 
veins  at  the  spectacle  of  the  world's  corruption ; 
as  to  my  tears,  they  do  not  fall  from  my  eyes 
(my  strong  constitution  forbids  me  to  weep),  but 
they  sink  within  ray  heart. 

XLI. 

I  ask  myself  why  I  am  so  ardently  impressed 
with  the  meaning  of  the  primitive  comraand- 
ment,  amid  all  the  cares  and  troubles  that  sur- 
round my  life.  Will  the  world  give  me  credit 
for  all  the  griefs  that  1  endure  ?  Will  I  receive, 
for  this  discovery  which  is  of  interest  to  all  the 
world,  a  reward  such  as  they  give  to  inventors 
of  trifles?  It  is  useless  to  thmk  of  such  a  thing. 
My  greatest  recompense  will  consist  in  escap- 
ing punishment ;  for  their  attacks  upon  me  are 
vigorous.  But  against  whom  are  they  directed  ? 
Reflect  on  this  important  question.  Why  should 
these  menaces  disquiet  me,  when  I  am  guided 
by  an  invisible  and  mysterious  hand,  which  im- 
pels me  to  act  as  I  do,  so  that  it  is,  as  it  were, 
against  my  will  that  I  labor. 

XLII. 

Formerly  I  hoped  to  obtain  from  God  in  a 
future  life,  some  reward  for  this  work,  although 
I  have  not  accomplished  it  perfectly.  And 
now  well-educated  men,  understanding  the  ob- 
ject I  sought,  say  to  me  :  "  You  have  not  labored 
for  love  of  your  neighbor,  but  for  love  of  your- 
self. To  love  your  neighbor  and  at  the  same 
time  to  love  yourself  is  to  offend  God  and  to 
hate  your  neighbor."  Their  arguments  seera  to 
me  pure  and  simple  truth  ;  one  would  thinli 
God  had  inspired  their  words. 


Labor  and  Lovt.  155 

XLIII. 

I  sec  but  one  means  to  avoid  these  difficulties. 
If  they  will  divide  my  work  into  ten  parts,  and 
only  hold  me  accountable  for  the  tenth  part  of 
it,  1  will  be  satisfied.  If  they  take  from  mc 
even  this  benefit,  I  shall  not  be  wronged,  because 
I  am  convinced  that  1  need  not  wait  to  be 
judged  by  God  in  the  life  beyond  the  grave. 
My  conscience  will  be  my  judge ;  and  it  will 
not  torture  me  with  remorse,  for  I  believe  that 
I  have  always  applied  myself  to  do  right.  And 
yet  if  there  is  any  doubtful  case,  I  will  resign 
myself  to  the  decision  of  God. 

XLIV. 

My  readers  desire  perhaps  to  know  what  arc 
the  griefs  that  have  dried  up  my  blood.  Thej 
are  these  : 

I  St.  I  have  not  the  habit  of  writing,  as  you 
may  see.  I  have  been  obliged  to  re-write  the 
same  article  several  times.  You  will  see  from 
that,  the  imperative  need  1  have  felt  of  doing 
m}^  work. 

2d.  I  have  composed  this  work  in  the  midst 
of  painful  labors  in  the  field.  I  go  to  my  labors 
in  the  da^'time,  and  at  night  I  write,  and  with 
much  difficulty,  because  I  do  not  see  well,  even 
with  spectacles. 

3d.  If  I  had  been  rich,  I  would  have  had 
teachers,  counsellors,  and  literary  aid.  But 
while  I  am  not  entirely  poor,  my  possessions 
are  very  modest.  And  1  have  also  not  been 
well  received  where  I  have  spoken  of  my  proj- 
ect. 

4th.  Ismy  family  numerous?     In  other  words, 


1 56  Labor  and  Love. 

how  many  are  there  of  us  who  labor  ?  We  are 
seven :  myself,  my  wife,  our  oldest  son  and  his 
wile,  and  their  three  young  children.  We  are 
far  from  being  all  of  us  able  to  work. 

Our  fortune  does  not  permit  us  to  employ 
laborers ;  and  besides  that,  as  I  have  shown, 
we  must  not  eat  the  bread  of  another's  labor. 

5th.  It  is  four  )'ears  (we  are  now  in  De- 
cember 1886)  since  1  addressed  the  govern- 
ment on  this  subject  that  I  have  at  heart. 
I  have  asked  permission  to  publish  my  sermon. 
What  is  the  result?  It  is  as  though  I  had  had 
to  do  with  the  deaf  and  blind ;  they  do  not  an- 
swer me.     At  least  they  might  ^■Ay  yes  or  710. 

6th.  But  that  which  most  oi  all  dries  up  my 
blood  is  that  sixty  millions  of  Russians  are  suf- 
fering in  ignorance  and  misery  because  the  law 
of  labor  is  hidden  from  them.  Why?  That 
some  persons  may  live  in  comfort  and  idleness, 
and  enjoy  all  the  earthly  pleasures  that  for 
very  shame's  sake  I  will  not  enumerate  before 
honest  people. 

Have  I  told  you  all  the  sorrows,  the  evils,  the 
weariness,  and  the  pain  from  which  I  suffer? 
No ;  for  it  is  impossible  to  express  it  all. 


XLV. 

Nothing  is  more  true.  Heaven  has  designed 
that  1  should  seal  with  my  blood  and  bathe  with 
my  tears  the  truth  that  I  have  taught.  I  have 
sealed  it  Avith  my  blood,  and  bathed  it  with  my 
tears.  Perhaps  after  my  death  the  command- 
ment I  have  proclaimed  will  flourish.  I  can- 
not believe  otherwise.  What  obstacle  could 
stand  in  the  way  ?  I  have  told  but  the  truth  ; 
my    prophecy    cannot  vanish   without   leaving 


Labor  and  Love.  1 5  7 

some  traces.  Do  I  seek  to  gain  glory  ?  No. 
I  am  old  ;  of  what  use  would  glory  be  to  me? 
To-day  or  to-morrow  I  will  descend  into  the 
tomb,  where  the  light  of  the  sun  will  not  enter ; 
why,  then,  should  I  seek  glory  ? 

XLVI. 

My  task  is  now  finished.  I  have  withdrawn 
the  primitive  law  from  the  hell  into  which  men 
have  cast  it  since  the  beginning  of  the  ages. 
1  have  bedewed  it  with  my  tears,  and  sealed  it 
with  my  blood,  as  I  have  said,  and  I  have  re- 
signed it  into  the  hands  of  the  government,  or 
rather  into  those  of  the  most  powerful  man  in 
the  world  ;  I  have  given  it  to  the  czar  of  czars, 
the  monarch  of  monarchs,  the  king  of  kings — 
to  the  Emperor. 

Let  what  will  happen,  I  have  done  my  duty. 
It  is  for  you,  O  Czar,  to  act  according  to  your 
power  and  your  will! 

XLVII. 

One  more  word,  and  I  have  done.  During 
the  last  days  that  are  left  of  my  life,  I  will  con- 
sign myself  to  the  sepulchre,  and  I  will  raise 
above  it  a  monument  in  conformity  with  the 
primitive  law,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  knead  bread."  I  will  raise,  I  say,  a  mon- 
ument worthy  of  this  precept,  which  is  more 
precious  than  all  earthly  treasures.  1  will  show 
you  my  design  in  the  following  articles. 

XLVIII. 

I,  Bondareff,  will  make  a  written  rather  than 
a  verbal  will,  in  which  1  will  say  to  my  son 
Daniel :  At  my  death,  when  you  place  me  in  J:he 


1 58  Labor  and  Love. 

coffin,  put  in  my  hands  the  papers  that  are 
here.  God,  who  sees  everything,  the  surface  as 
well  as  the  depths  of  the  earth,  will  know  why 
I  shall  hold  these  papers  in  my  hands.  He  can 
judge  of  their  contents  when  he  summons  to 
the  last  judgment  all  our  enemies  who,  having 
heard  of  or  read  my  doctrine,  have  made  no  ef- 
fort to  propagate  it.  He  will  summon  also  the 
defenders  of  the  law  of  labor,  and  he  will  re- 
compense them.  I  assure  you  with  all  my  soul 
that  my  prophecy  will  be  accomplished.  If 
you  offend  a  man,  you  will  certainly  be  pun- 
ished. In  denying  the  law  of  labor,  you  offend 
millions  of  men,  with  their  children  and  all  their 
descendants.  Do  you  believe  that  your  sin 
will  be  pardoned  because  of  the  blind  fortune 
that  protects  you  ?  None  but  atheists  could 
have  such  a  delusion. 


XLIX. 

We  have  with  us  the  custom  of  carrying  the 
dead  to  the  cemeter}'  in  our  arms.  But  1  will 
order  my  son  to  carry  my  corpse  on  a  carriage 
to  the  tomb, 

Man  is  too  much  of  a  hypocrite  to  be  per- 
mitted to  touch  ray  remains.  When  one  of  us 
seeks  in  life  the  esteem  of  his  neighbors,  he  re- 
ceives but  hatred  ;  they  wish  him  the  greatest 
misfortunes,  and  they  disdain  him  ;  but  when  he 
is  dead  and  he  has  no  longer  need  of  man's 
esteem,  his  enemies  carry  him  to  his  last  rest- 
ing-place with  feigned  sorrow.  Ah  !  if  a  man 
could  see  what  passes  at  his  obsequies,  he  would 
be  but  little  satisfied  !  Man  is  a  hypocrite,  i 
now  hate  all  men,  and  that  is  why  I  will  not 
have  them  touch  my  coffin  after  my  death. 


Labor  and  Love.  1 59 

My  often  too  eager  critics  do  not  consider 
private  individuals  for  whom  they  care  not, 
but  they  regard  only  the  representatives  of  the 
supreme  government.  These  arc  they  who 
are  our  most  bitter  enemies.  These  are  as  pas- 
tors who  nourish  themselves,  and  let  the  flock 
that  God  has  confided  to  their  care  die  of 
hunger. 


If  a  man  passes  from  death  to  life,  his  neigh- 
bor will  not  even  carry  him  on  a  cart ;  but 
if  he  passes  from  life  to  death,  he  will  carry  him 
in  his  arms !  And  if  one  had  occasion  to  help 
a  man  pass  from  death  to  life,  he  would  not  do 
it  from  love  for  his  neighbor,  but  only  in  the 
hope  of  an  actual  recompense,  consisting  of 
gifts  of  money  or  of  public  praise. 


LI. 

I  will  order  my  son  not  to  bury  me  in  the 
cemetery,  but  in  the  ground  which,  cultivated 
by  my  arms,  has  furnished  our  daily  bread.*  I 
will  pray  him  not  to  fill  my  grave  with  clay 
or  sand,  but  with  fertile  earth,  and  to  leave  no 
mound  or  anything  to  indicate  the  place  of  my 
burial.  I  will  direct  him  to  continue  every  year 


*  One  of  the  best  known  Russian  sectaries,  the  moujik  Sou- 
talef,  who  was  Tolstoi's  inspiration,  also  undertook  to  dis- 
pense with  the  priest's  office,  and  to  be  interred  in  unconse- 
crated  ground,  but  for  other  reasons  than  Bondareff's.  "A 
child  was  born,"  relates  M.  A.  Leroy-Beaulieu,  "and  he  re- 
fused to  have  it  baptized  ;  another  died,  and  he  wished  to  bury 
it  in  his  garden,  under  the  pretext  that  all  the  earth  was  holy  ; 
when  that  was  forbidden,  he  hid  the  body  under  his  floor." 


1 60  Labor  and  Love. 

lo  sow  the  place  with  good  wheat.  Lat6r,  this 
land  may  belong  to  some  other  cultivator,  and 
in  this  manner  they  will  gather  the  bread  of  life 
from  my  grave,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Thus 
will  be  accomplished  the  prophecy  of  Job 
(v.  26} :  "  Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a 
full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  his 
season."* 

This  is  the  monument  that  I  prefer  to  all 
others. 

Already  I  have  chosen  the  place  of  my  burial. 
I  consign  myself  to  the  grave.  I  live  yet  to- 
day :  the  future  does  not  belong  to  us. 

I  here  terminate  my  book. 

And  now,  readei's,  we  will  meet  again  ;  if  not 
in  this  world,  at  least  in  the  next.  We  shall  find 
that  world  different  from  this.  But  I  hope 
with  your  skill  and  eloquence,  you  will  be  able 
to  justify  yourselves  before  God  better  than  1 
have  known  how  to  do  it. 

Timothy  Michailovitch  Bondareff. 


*  Men  will  speak  of  my  obsequies  from  century  to  century, 
and  many  laborers  will  follo^v  my  example.  Perhaps  some 
amongst  you,  O  ye  nobles  and  rich  men,  will  also  be  interred 
in  the  earth  where  men  sow  their  grain  ! 


LOAN  DEPT. 


jANlAIljfMl^ 


LD21A-60m-8,'70 
(N8837sl0)476— A-3- 


General  Librap^     . 
University  of  Califorma 

Berkeley 


^9*. 

■■^v 


3z 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


-THE- 


KREUTZER  SON 


i\in 


1 


BY 


COUNT     LYOF    TOLSTOI. 

TPANSLATED     BY 

KREDKRIC    IvYSTE^R. 

FORMING  THE  FIRST  ISSUE  OF 

POLLARD'S  POPULAR  PL.HLICATIONS. 

One  %rdume,  12  ;«<?,  paper  covers,  25  cents* 


■•The  narrative  is  the  most  revolting  record  of  disappointment  in  married  lif;'.  .  . 
he  boolv  is  intended  to  heal  and  cleanse  the  moral  leprosy  which  prevails  niider  tli( 
ost  sacred  relations  in  the  church  and  in  the  familj'.  .  .  .  The  booli  is  snppieHsed  ;^^ 
!iiins<  under  the  htadof  obscene  or  immoral  literature,  while  its  sole  intent  .iid  nioii^ 
to  cleanse  society  from  immoral  thought  and  practice.''  — Church  Uniwi. 


THE  MORALS  OF  THE  "KREUTZER  SONATA." 

The  order  excluding  the  'Krentzer  Sonata'  from  the  mails  will  injure  the  pos' 

lur^iei-general  far  more  than  it  will  help  the  publisher  of  the  forbidden  volume.    Weii 

he  order  in  the  interest  of  morality  we  should  heartily  support  it,  but  it  is  sham  moi 

.liry  and  false  morality  which  is  offended  by  Count  Tolstoi's  book.     We  are  f.ir  fion, 

:  aking  the  position  that '  to  the  pure  all  thines  are  pure.'    But  we  do  hold  tliat//w/t  thr 

)ure  all  things  are  pure,  and  volumes  lilve  Tolstoi's  '  Kreutzer  Sonata'  and  Dandet's 

.  Sappho,'  which  deal  with  immorality  in  the  high  and  serious  moral  spirit  ot  Hebrew 

•■"•ihets.  are  no  more  to  be  condemned  as  immoral  than  the  plain  spoken  passages  of 

lire  are  to  be  so  condemned.  .  .  .  The  book  is  not  one  which  yon  woull  wish  a 

girl  to  read   wi-.o  has  been  brought  up  in  a  doll's  liouse,  but  the  chief  reason  that 

"li     ould  1  tii  wish  it  is  because  its  picture  of  life  would  liaunt  her  and  lead  to  hysterical 

i  nor>  ;ity.     Y>-t  the  book  is  one  which  many  men — and  generally  those  of  the  jiurest  an<l 

itrOi-  ;est  character — would  wish  that  their  sons  should  read. 

"It  is  a  curious  fact  in  literary  hi..-tory  that  the  books  which  have  been  'igorouslv 
md  prifonndl"  mora!  have  uniformly  been  attacked  as  profoundly  immoral,  ivhileuioir 
,;onventioi;'il  i,i>oks,  ^yi)ich  have  been  simply  saturated  with  moral  sewer  gas,  have  bet n 
illowed  to  pass  unnoticed.  .  .  .  It  is  not  singular,  therefore,  that  the  '  Kreutzsr  Sonata  ' 
should  be  condenmed  by  the  great  representative  of  conventional  cant,  who  stands  so 
aearthe  head  of  the  party  of  moral  ideas,  whose  chief  political  idea  is  child  of  system- 
.itized  robber)  and  the  parent  of  systematized  jobbery."— JN'^h'   Im'k  Commercial  Ad- 

\-iertiser.  

J 

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